Academic

PC WORLD: Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down. ?In the land of no Internet conn?

By Glenn Reynolds

PC WORLD: Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down. “In the land of no Internet connection, the man with dial-up is king.” Plus, thoughts on ham radio, etc.

You can still buy a dialup modem. Here’s another. And it’s harder — and more disruptive — to shut down the whole phone system than just the Internet.

UPDATE: Reader Tom Hill writes: “Would you mind asking your readers if fiber optic phone systems (such as Verizon Fios) could be shut down as part of an internet shutdown?” I’m sure they could be, but my guess is that Internet would be blocked at the ISP gateway. Others may know more than me.

And what’s the point of dialup if the ISP gateways are shut down? With dialup, you can reach foreign dialup nodes. Of course, it’s also possible to just shut down international phone calls, but that’s another step, and also a costly one.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Egypt Cuts The Net, The Net Fights Back.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on January 29, 2011 (boomark / email).