U.S. mulls independent web access for dissidents in repressive regimes
Where internet access is deliberately restricted by authorities, America hopes to provide succour by its reported $2 million 'internet in a suitcase' plan that will roll out online emergency lines to nationals under extreme duress from their own governments.
The New York Times said on Monday that the US State Department initiative will establish mobile phone networks, all lumped into a portable gadget that can be used by a country's citizens embroiled in protest actions such as the ongoing 'Arab Spring' revolts engulfing many Middle East and North African nations.
The motivation behind the project, the US publication said, is to help out on the waves of historic changes currently gripping a number of countries, which the United States is in a position to help.
The NY Times report quoted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as saying that "we see more and more people around the globe using the Internet, mobile phones and other technologies to make their voices heard as they protest against injustice and seek to realize their aspirations."
The US-sponsored project aims to implement 'stealth wireless networks' to regions labelled by the State Department as traditionally flashpoint areas such as Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Syria and possibly China.
Specifically in Afghanistan, PC Magazine has reported that Pentagon is drawing up plans that will see the construction of sabotage-free mobile networks in the country in light of frequent attacks staged by the Taliban on its telecommunication facilities.
The tech publication said that the $50 million blueprint will be rolled out in conjunction with Foggy Bottom.
US officials admittedly view the communication project as challenging, said the NY Times, but US President Barack Obama appears bent on deploying it, which could serve as the new form of Voice of America that facilitated crucial exchanges of information during the World War II conflict.