http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/guide_gb_md.pdf

The Palestine Review.

I just wanted to let You know that just as I created an all-in-one-file version of this handbook at http://thewall.civiblog.org/rsf, I just completed my own personal account.

I did this without being asked by Reporters Without Borders, because I thought it was apropos, and needed to be done.

I wrote the article “Personal Account – Earth: Blogging and the Emergence of DotCommunism” partly because it intersected with the topics, but mostly because I needed to tell this story… I have held it back for too long,and it was therapeautically gratifying to do so.

I linked to it from the html version, again, without explicit request or permission from RSF.

It may be found at http://thewall.civiblog.org/rsf/pa_earth.html .

There is a mirror at democracywall.org/rsf/ .

I would like to Thank everyone who responded with suggestions, comments, and insights – they made this personal account article much better than it would have been without that input. Thank You.

I hope it is useful.

Cheers,

-dcm

Mathew Maavak
KL, 00.37am
Oct 12

The Internet was designed to withstand even a nuclear attack – through liner and non-linear routing – but the Saudis and other repressive regimes have used their mother lodes to control, monitor or deny data flowing in and out of the country. This is control at a localized level, usually effective when targets are very specific.

The lodes, routers and servers seem to intrigue me and I’d appreciate any feedback.

Regards
Mathew Maavak
KL, Oct 12 00.33am

Even if anonymity tricks are technically viable, there are also a host of mitigating factors. Here is my personal experience. This is my third attempt at posting some of the issues I originally raised. Now, it has morphed into a semi analysis.

1) A few days back, I tried posting questions relevant to the anonymity guide. The post never appeared.

2) Julien Pain telephonically confirmed that the post didn’t show up on the admin side. How could it disappear? Again there are myriad reasons from simple technicalities on my end to a determined block at any router. I have already posted stuff on my own site and other sites since then. Knowing human nature, the possibility of a schadenfreude cannot be ruled out.

I just hope they are not vested with the levers of moderation, especially at a forum like this.

3) I posted yet another message (Kuala Lumpur time, 10.42pm Friday Oct 7) which disappeared into a black hole. This time I contacted Rebecca MacKinnon. Keyword spam filtering was ruled out by virtue of the nature and content of the original post. There was a possibility that my IP address was mistaken for a spammer’s, and subsequently blocked. This possibility is not confirmed yet. Anyway, I don’t know my own IP address and don’t rely on them as they can be faked very easily. Again, another ominous factor for bloggers to note. If mine was simulated by a spammer, think of the repercussions?

There are other possibilities.

A router nearby may have been used to block posts. That’s why I am keen to know how international charters deal with the status of routers. A post from Kuala Lumpur to the GVO server in the US can be scuttled en route. Anonymity tips won’t work under these situations. Again the need for a proper, and comprehensive Blogger 9/11. Anyone can say there is some technical problem somewhere, a cul-de-sac of “maybes.” In the meantime, any SOS can be lost and that can be tragic.

This input originated from my failure to reach a local blogger by phone. (I wanted to know the status of the Good Man’s case and the call was not returned. The Good Man was the very one who was spreading “seditious” messages in Malaysia.

4) It’s a historical fact that repressive regimes co-opt “dissidents” to act as filters in their societies. Nothing new and nothing to be paranoid about. But is there a danger that the GVO might get enmeshed in such filtrations? This a pan-global effort that needs intelligent inputs from varied sources. Chaos reigns when there are disparate voices – after all this is the age of information overload. Are we in danger of whittling down that overload by diluting discourse to a few? Believe me, there are some very intelligent people in Kuala Lumpur whose inputs can enrich GVO. They stay out as they get intimidated by self-styled paladins who think they know how the government works.

I have never encountered reprisals – thus far – over my articles in Malaysia. I don’t live under that bogey, or rather I have outlived it. I use more HUMINT techniques to cover my back.

5) Again the role of the ITU and international charters that deal with transborder, online freedom of speech need to be addressed. For instance, one student in Singapore was threatened with defamation for criticizing his government’s scholarship policy. Which server hosted that criticism? If it was posted from a US server, does a foreign government have a locus standi to supercede the First Amendment? These are matters to be explored. And there are more. Where/Which is the starting point for one to discuss these matters?

6) Anonymity tips will be read by repressive regimes. They will have more resources to employ tools of interception and identification. China recently armtwisted Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. This why technical circumvention has to be buttressed by more HUMINT forms of anonymity tips. Again, I stress the imperativeness of some form of Blogger 911.

After all, this is my third attempt at posting. Is there a technical gremlin in cyberspace?

Mathew Maavak
Kuala Lumpur
11.20pm Monday Oct 10!