egypt

U.S. defended Egyptian activist's YouTube videos

U.S. State Department officials successfully pressured Google to restore a YouTube video showing torture and murder by Egypt's state police, a WikiLeaks cable reveals.

The Cairo embassy and the State Department's bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor "worked to convince Google to restore" a prominent blogger's account that was suspended in late 2007, the recently released cable says.

Nearly a year later, the same blogger contacted the State Department to report that "YouTube removed from his website two videos exposing police abuses," including a woman being tortured at a police station … Read more

Amid unrest, Egypt went offline (roundup)

Following widespread street protests demanding an end to autocratic rule by President Hosni Mubarak, a country of more than 80 million people found itself almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the world. Here's how the story has unfolded:

Vodafone: We were forced to send pro-Mubarak texts Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak forced carrier to send prescripted, propagandistic text messages during recent unrest, Vodafone says. (Posted in Politics and Law by Lance Whitney) February 3, 2011 11:43 AM PST

U.S. defended Egyptian activist's YouTube videos WikiLeaks cable shows U.S. State Department talked Google into … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1399: Waiting for Lady Killer (podcast)

Warning: today's show is slightly shorter than usual, thanks to our live coverage of Google's Honeycomb, Android Market, and Lady Killer event. But it's worth it: we break down the big announcements from Google, talk about the launch of The Daily, Egypt's restoration of Internet service, and the TSA planning to show slightly less junk than before. Thanks, guys. --Molly

Senators decry link between Egypt, 'kill switch' bill

Three U.S. senators who want to give the president emergency powers over the Internet are protesting comparisons with the "kill switch" highlighted by Egypt's Net disconnection.

In a statement yesterday, the politicians said their intent was to allow the president "to protect the U.S. from external cyber attacks," not to shut down the Internet, and announced that they would revise their legislation to explicitly prohibit that from happening.

"Some have suggested that our legislation would empower the president to deny U.S. citizens access to the Internet," said the statement from … Read more

Egypt gets its Internet back

Egyptian authorities have restored Internet service to the country after anti-government protests last week led to a five-day Net blackout.

"Egyptian Internet providers returned to the Internet at 09:29:31 UTC (11:29 a.m. Cairo time)," said a blog post by Net monitoring firm Renesys today.

Indeed, a variety of Egyptian Web sites, including the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the Central Bank of Egypt, and the Egyptian Stock Exchange are available. And Twitter activity relating to Egypt is surging.

"The Internet is back in Egypt! FINALLY!" tweeted Cairo-based human rights activist Dalia Ziada … Read more

The 404 748: Where you don't know what you've been given (podcast)

There's plenty of serious tech news going on in the world today, like the Intel Sandy Bridge chipset recall and two Web giants helping Egyptians communicate without the Internet, so be sure to check out the CNET home page for the latest.

As usual, we're covering the cultural aspects of tech news that interest us today, stories like Facebook offering free access on flights in Feb-roo-air-ie, Chinese immigrants finding love on the Internet a la JDate, a Chatroulette model for medical diagnoses, and a Stanford psychology study that links Facebook "one-upsmanship" to the worldwide depression epidemic.

We finish with surprising news about your favorite adult Web sites and a plea for user-submitted voice mails! We're running low, so call 1-866-404-CNET and tell us what's on your mind! Don't worry about messing up, we'll make you articulate using the magic of editing, so pick up the phone or record a video voice mail and e-mail us the YouTube/Vimeo link at the404(at)cnet(dot)com.

Episode 748 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Do we need the Internet for a revolution?

In the last two years I have read at least a dozen books that champion the Internet as the key to personal and political freedom. Scholars and academics have come to see digital communication as a near messiah in power and prescience.

However, I believe that the current revolution in Egypt should temper our faith in the Internet.

The Egyptian government has cut off the digital tools that we have come to rely on. All ISPs are shut down, cell phone service has been cut, and Al Jazeera has lost its license to broadcast within the country.

Yet the people … Read more

Internet 'kill switch'--help or hindrance? (poll)

There's nothing like a whole-country Internet disconnect to focus attention on how a so-called "kill switch" would work.

While proposals to give President Obama emergency authority to disconnect privately owned computers from the Internet have circulating on Capitol Hill for a few years, last week's news about Egypt pulling the plug on its Net-connection focused new attention on the topic. (On January 24, CNET was the first to report that the legislation will return this year.)

Legendary technology columnist John C. Dvorak warned that such a proposal "gives the president the power to literally kill … Read more

Google, Twitter build Speak to Tweet for Egyptians

Google, in combination with Twitter and its recently acquired SayNow engineers, has released a service for tweeting without an Internet connection.

Designed specifically for those on the ground in Egypt unable to communicate via the Internet with the outside world, Speak to Tweet allows anyone with a voice connection to dial three international numbers and have their voice messages sent out as tweets with the #egypt hash tag added to those links. "We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time," wrote Ujjwal Singh, co-founder of SayNow … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1397: Amazon is ready for Prime time (podcast)

On today's show, Android is taking over the world (seriously), Internet-starved users turn to ham radio and dial-up to get the word out of Egypt, and Intel's Sandy Bridge chipsets are delayed (uh oh). Also, details about a possible Netflix-like streaming service that would be free for Amazon Prime users. As if Amazon Prime could get any more awesome. All the right moves, Amazon. All the right moves. Plus, some problems with quashing subpoenas. --Molly