Protesters in Cairo, Egypt, call for the return of the Internet on February 1 after the government shut it down.

Discussion:  In early 2011 civil unrest in Egypt and the middle east let to political demonstrations that the Egyptian government believed threatening enough to the well being of the country that they shut down the World Wide Web in hopes of diminishing lines of communication between groups of protesters.  OpenMesh, an ad hoc wireless mesh network of individual computers and routers, can be used as a means of communication between individuals in a group, even after government intervention.  The creator of OpenMesh, Shervin Pishevar, hopes that his project, and other technologies, will help lead to freedom in the middle east.  Pishevar’s OpenMesh can essentially “create a fee community unbound by topographical and state barriers.”

Source:  CNN News

Date:  June 25, 2011

Link:  http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/17/mesh.technology.revolution/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Questions for discussion:

*How are mesh networks policed, since they are not connected to a traditional “Internet”?  Are they policed?

*These mesh networks that cannot be controlled by government are potentially a forum through which persons of interest can be tracked and located.  Is doing so a violation of personal rights?  Do civil liberties apply to persons participating in a network that is on the outskirts of legality (or not overseen by any authoritative body at all)?