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Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

bbc.com

71–80 of 128 posts

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#71

They are testing this because they want the power to release an unspeakable virus / botnet which can destroy the whole internet / take down major infrastructure. Doing so would of course require disconnecting from the internet first.

1) Don't post conspiracy theories with nothing to back it up like its real information. 2) You don't need a virus to take down the internet. A fairly limited missile strike could take out enough of the backbone to take almost everything down. 3) This is a real danger all first world countries are aware of and prepare for or under-prepare for. 4) If World War 3 starts when China takes down Netflix.... our generation w…

I mean, just destroy a couple of AWS datacenters and half of the internet dies immediately.

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#72

They are testing this because they want the power to release an unspeakable virus / botnet which can destroy the whole internet / take down major infrastructure. Doing so would of course require disconnecting from the internet first.

1) Don't post conspiracy theories with nothing to back it up like its real information. 2) You don't need a virus to take down the internet. A fairly limited missile strike could take out enough of the backbone to take almost everything down. 3) This is a real danger all first world countries are aware of and prepare for or under-prepare for. 4) If World War 3 starts when China takes down Netflix.... our generation w…

> A fairly limited missile strike could take out enough of the backbone to take almost everything down.

Which is quite ironic -- if true -- considering the Internet was originally designed to be able to withstand the nuclear war.

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#73
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people go to war to gain control over something. If you can do so by censoring ideas, great! That is a lot cheaper than actual war.

.. I'm starting to see a lot of outrageous opinions like this on 'normal' forums like Reddit and HN with people defending this type of authoritarianism. I see the internet trending so extreme to the point it's useless for me. Not sure if others feel the same. Makes me sad to remember the hope I used to feel about its possibilities.

ya wtf ofc its terrible, but its obvious that its not just 'censorship', it is a form of war waged by thought control

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#74
post #24
post #10

Any sources on the quote in the article, "Eventually the Russian government wants all domestic traffic to pass through these routing points. This is believed to be part of an effort to set up a mass censorship system akin to that seen in China, which tries to scrub out prohibited traffic." ? I searched and all I came up with was several sites saying the exact same thing, literally word for word, or otherwise saying s…

Source, Russian: https://www.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/08/02/2019/5c5c51069...

Thanks. Translate [1] seems to have done quite a remarkable job on the article. And I see absolutely no discussion about any sort of plans for national level censorship service along the lines of China. Perhaps a native speaker can chime in if anything was lost in translation, so to speak.

[1] - https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https...

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I believed this as strongly as you do. The Chinese internet is isolated in a lot of very meaningful ways and the Chinese economy is not going backwards. There's probably a drag but it's not significant enough to stall progress. You can unfortunately retain a lot of the utility of the internet while simultaneously sucking out the ability for it to be effectively used for political activity if you're willing to…

"There's probably a drag but it's not significant enough to stall progress." I think it's rather the opposite. Why do you think tencent, alibaba, etc., exist in China, instead of the US alternatives? It's simply because there was a wall in place. Honestly, I'm not sure why more large countries aren't doing this - it's an easy way to build your own digital industry up.

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Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#76
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"There's probably a drag but it's not significant enough to stall progress." I think it's rather the opposite. Why do you think tencent, alibaba, etc., exist in China, instead of the US alternatives? It's simply because there was a wall in place. Honestly, I'm not sure why more large countries aren't doing this - it's an easy way to build your own digital industry up.

That's the thing - I'm not sure Russia can produce their own competent tencent, alibaba, and so forth. I wonder if they're going to wall off their section of the Internet, then realise it's painful and open themselves up to Chinese companies. It would be wise for someone in the Russian government to say "You will end up shining the shoes of the Chinese!" a la Italo Balbo at this point.

Services don't have to be competent to be profitable.

In addition, I'm sure there's enough tech skill and manpower in Russia to create most any web service given enough incentive.

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the value in protecting the domestic internet from a cyber attack? Critical national information services absolutely, but if Reddit goes down, it's not a matter of national emergency. The conceit COULD be for disseminating information, but a text message system would make more sense in that regards, plus good old fashioned TV and Radio.

If Reddit goes down, it's not a matter of national emergency, but if say, all major news websites do, then you're probably fucked

I'm old enough to remember this happening 17 and a half years ago.

Two airplanes had crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, and word starting coming in of another plane crashing into the Pentagon building. Talk of terrorism spread, and American airspace was shut down, and another airplane crash was reported. All the news websites were down, except for Chips & Dips, which had disabled images and was mostly text anyway.

Actually, the site had already changed its name by then. I sometimes see some usernames here that I remember from there.

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#78
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people go to war to gain control over something. If you can do so by censoring ideas, great! That is a lot cheaper than actual war.

.. I'm starting to see a lot of outrageous opinions like this on 'normal' forums like Reddit and HN with people defending this type of authoritarianism. I see the internet trending so extreme to the point it's useless for me. Not sure if others feel the same. Makes me sad to remember the hope I used to feel about its possibilities.

Could it be that you're just misinterpreting these through the lens of your worldview? To me the guy you're responding to seems like someone who is likely to stand on the side of anti-authoritarianism

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#79
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.. I'm starting to see a lot of outrageous opinions like this on 'normal' forums like Reddit and HN with people defending this type of authoritarianism. I see the internet trending so extreme to the point it's useless for me. Not sure if others feel the same. Makes me sad to remember the hope I used to feel about its possibilities.

> outrageous opinions Opinion can't be outrageous. Opinion is an idea, ideas doesn't kill people. Other people do.

Outrageous != Kills people

Re: Russia considers 'unplugging' from internet

#80
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.. I'm starting to see a lot of outrageous opinions like this on 'normal' forums like Reddit and HN with people defending this type of authoritarianism. I see the internet trending so extreme to the point it's useless for me. Not sure if others feel the same. Makes me sad to remember the hope I used to feel about its possibilities.

For the past 10-15 years there has been a broad based trend toward authoritarianism. I see it on both the left and the right. Most libertarians seem to have become either fascists or authoritarian socialists. What you see in forums reflects this larger trend. It also seems to be a global trend that spans cultures, nations, religions, etc. I am not sure exactly why this is happening, but my guess would be a lot of ext…

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