How to Communicate if the Government Shuts Down the Internet

Posted by: TLB Staff Published November 11, 2013, filed under F !!"#$

By: %alla&e S&enario: 'our (overnment is dis)leased *ith the &ommuni&ation (oin( on in your lo&ation and )ulls the )lu( on your internet a&&ess, most li+ely by tellin( the ma,or -SPs to turn off servi&e. This is *hat ha))ened in !(y)t /an. 20 )rom)ted by &iti1en )rotests, *ith sour&es estimatin( that the !(y)tian (overnment &ut off a))ro2imately 33 )er&ent of the &ountry4s internet a&&ess. %hat do you do *ithout internet5 Ste) 1: Sto) &ryin( in the &orner. Then start ta+in( ste)s to re&onne&t *ith your net*or+. 6ere4s a list of thin(s you &an do to +ee) the &ommuni&ation flo*in(. P !7!NT-7! $!8S9 !S: $8:! '#9 N!T%# : T8N;-BL! Print out your &onta&t list, so your )hone numbers aren4t stu&+ in the &loud. Some mail servi&es li+e ;mail allo* you to e2)ort your online &onta&t list in formats that are more &ondu&ive to )a)er, su&h as <S7 or 7&ard, and offer ste)=by=ste) (uides on ho* to do this. B #8"<8ST #N T6! 8"-#: <B adio: Short for ><iti1ens Band? radio, these t*o=*ay radios allo* &ommuni&ation over short distan&es on @0 &hannels. 'ou &an )i&+ one u) for about A20 to A00 at adio Sha&+, and no li&ense is reBuired to o)erate it. 6am radio: To &onverse over these radios, also +no*n as >amateur radios,? you have to obtain an o)erator4s li&ense from the F<<. Lu&+ily, other %ired 6o*=To &ontributors have already e2)lained e2a&tly *hat you need to do to (et one and use it li+e a )ro. 6o*ever, if the President de&lares a State of !mer(en&y, use of the radio &ould be e2tremely restri&ted or )rohibited. ;$ S: The ;eneral $obile adio Servi&e C;$ SD is a li&ensed land=mobile F$ 96F radio servi&e in the 9nited States available for short=distan&e t*o=*ay &ommuni&ation. -t is intended for use by an adult individual *ho )ossesses a valid ;$ S li&ense, as *ell as his or her immediate family membersE They are more e2)ensive than the *al+ie tal+ies ty)i&ally found in dis&ount ele&troni&s

stores, but are hi(her Buality. Family adio Servi&e: The Family adio Servi&e CF SD is an im)roved *al+ie tal+ie radio system authori1ed in the 9nited States sin&e 1FFG. This )ersonal radio servi&e uses &hanneli1ed freBuen&ies in the ultra hi(h freBuen&y C96FD band. -t does not suffer the interferen&e effe&ts found on &iti1ens4 band C<BD at 2H $61, or the @F $61 band also used by &ordless )hones, toys, and baby monitors. $i&robroad&astin(: $i&robroad&astin( is the )ro&ess of broad&astin( a messa(e to a relatively small audien&e. This is not to be &onfused *ith lo*=)o*er broad&astin(. -n radio terms, it is the use of lo*= )o*er transmitters to broad&ast a radio si(nal over the s)a&e of a nei(hborhood or small to*n. Similarly to )irate radio, mi&robroad&asters (enerally o)erate *ithout a li&ense from the lo&al re(ulation body, but sa&rifi&e ran(e in favor of usin( le(al )o*er limits. Pa&+et adio Ba&+ to the 4F0s: There do e2ist short*ave )a&+et=radio modems. These are also e2&ru&iatin(ly slo*, but may (et your e=mail out. Li+e ham radio above it reBuires a ham radio li&ense be&ause they o)erate on ham radio freBuen&ies. T!L!P6#N!: Set u) a )hone tree: 8&&ordin( to the 8meri&an 8sso&iation of 9niversity %omen, a )hone tree is >a )rearran(ed, )yramid=sha)ed system for a&tivatin( a (rou) of )eo)le by tele)hone? that &an >s)read a brief messa(e Bui&+ly and effi&iently to a lar(e number of )eo)le.? "i( out that &onta&t list you )rinted out to s)read the messa(e do*n your )yramid of &onta&ts. !nable T*itter via S$S: Thou(h the thou(ht of unleashin( the T*itter fire hose in your te2t messa(e inbo2 may seem horrifyin(, it *ould be better than not bein( able to &onne&t to the outside *orld at all. The T*itter *ebsite has full instru&tions on ho* to redire&t t*eets to your )hone. <all to T*eet: 8 small team of en(ineers from T*itter, ;oo(le and SayNo*, a &om)any ;oo(le a&Buired re&ently, made this idea a reality. -t4s already live and anyone &an t*eet by sim)ly leavin( a voi&email on one of these international )hone numbers CI1G00@1F@1FG or I3F0GG220H2F@ or IFH31G1FF300D and the servi&e *ill instantly t*eet the messa(e usin( the hashta( Je(y)t. No -nternet &onne&tion is reBuired. Peo)le &an listen to the messa(es by dialin( the same )hone numbers or (oin( to the T*itter a&&ount, s)ea+2t*eet. 8le2 /ones and info*ars.&om have a tele)hone number for )eo)le to listen to his radio sho* by )hone, in &ase the internet (oes do*n, or if you don4t have internet. The )hone in listen line is 012=G@G=0000. F8K: -f you need to Bui&+ly send and re&eive do&uments *ith len(thy or &om)le2 instru&tions, )hone &onversations may result in misunderstandin(s, and deliverin( the do& by foot *ould ta+e forever. Brush the dust off that bul+y old ma&hine, establish a &onne&tion by )hone first *ith the re&i)ient to ma+e sure his ma&hine is hoo+ed u), then fa2 a*ay. 'ou may not need a fa2 ma&hine to send or re&eive fa2es if your &om)uter has a dial=u) fa2 a))li&ation. N#N=7- T98L B9LL!T-N B#8 " Sometimes *e (et so *ra))ed u) in the virtual *orld that *e for(et about resour&es available in the real *orld. Physi&al bulletin boards have been used for &enturies to disseminate information and don4t reBuire ele&tri&ity to fun&tion. -f you are fortunate enou(h to be (ettin( information from some other sour&e *hy not share it *ith your friends and nei(hbors *ith your o*n bulletin board5 <or+, ma(neti& and mar+er bulletin boards are as &lose as your nearest dime store and &an be mounted ,ust about any*here. 8nd if )ush &omes to shove you &an easily ma+e your o*n *ith s&ra) *ood lyin( around

the house. ;ettin( ba&+ online%hile it mi(ht be relatively easy for a (overnment to &ut &onne&tions by levera(in( the ma,or -SPs, there are some )la&es they *ouldn4t (et to so readily, li+e )rivately=o*ned net*or+s and inde)endent -SPs. F-N" T6! P -78T!L' 9N -SPs -n densely )o)ulated areas, es)e&ially in &entral business distri&ts and &ity suburbs there are multi)le home %iFi net*or+s overla))in( ea&h other, some se&ure, some not. -f there is no internet, o)en u) your %iFi by removin( )ass*ord )rote&tion: -f enou(h )eo)le do this it4s feasible to &reate a totally )rivate %iFi servi&e outside (overnment &ontrol &overin( the <B", and you &an use a))li&ations that run Bon,our Ci<hat on $a& for e2am)leD to &ommuni&ate *ith others on the o)en net*or+ and send and re&eive do&uments. LLneeds more &larifi&ation -f you are a )rivate -SP, it4s your time to shine. <onsider allo*in( o)en a&&ess to your %i=Fi routers to fa&ilitate &ommuni&ation of )eo)le around you until the (rid is ba&+ online. !T9 N T# "-8L=9P 8&&ordin( to an arti&le in the BB< about old te&h4s role in the !(y)tian )rotests, >"ial=u) modems are one of the most )o)ular routes for !(y)tians to (et ba&+ online. Lon( lists of international numbers that &onne&t to dial=u) modems are &ir&ulatin( in !(y)t than+s to net a&tivists %e e=Build, Tele&omi2 and others.? "ial=u) &an be slo*. #ften, there is a li(ht*ei(ht mobile version of a site that you &an load from your des+to) bro*ser Bui&+ly des)ite the limitations of dial=u). !2am)les: mobile.t*itter.&om, m.fa&eboo+.&om, m.(mail.&om. 8"=6#< N!T%# :-N; $ost *ireless routers, P<s, la)to)s, and even some ultramobile devi&es li+e &ell)hones have the ability to be&ome )art of an >ad ho&? net*or+, *here different >nodes? Call of the devi&es on the net*or+D share the res)onsibility of transmittin( data *ith one another. These net*or+s &an be&ome Buite lar(e, and are often very easy to set u). -f used )ro)erly by a te&h=savvy )erson, su&h net*or+s &an be used to host tem)orary *ebsites and &hat rooms. There are many internet tutorials on the internet for ad ho& net*or+in(, so feel free to (oo(le some. 8))le &om)uters tend to have very a&&essible ad ho& fun&tionality built in, in&ludin( a )re=installed &hat &lient Ci<hatD that *ill automati&ally set u) an ad ho& > ende1vous? &hatroom amon( anybody on the net*or+, *ithout the need for an e2ternal servi&e li+e 8-$ or S+y)e. 8d ho& net*or+=hostin( fun&tionality is built in to the %i=Fi menu. %indo*s &om)uters have several third=)arty ad ho& &hat a))li&ations available Csu&h as TrillianD and settin( u) an ad ho& %i=Fi net*or+ is almost as sim)le as on a $a&. Linu2 o)eratin( systems, of &ourse, have )lenty of third=)arty a))s available, and most distros have ad ho& net*or+=&reation su))ort built in. B9-L" L8 ;! B -";!" %- !L!SS N!T%# : 9sin( )o)ular *ireless a&&ess )oint devi&es li+e a Lin+sys % T0@;, you &an &reate a hu(e *ireless brid(ed net*or+ M effe&tively &reatin( a Lo&al 8rea Net*or+ CL8ND, or a )rivate -nternet that &an be utili1ed by all users *ithin ran(e usin( a %i=Fi enabled devi&e. 'ou &an also lin+ multi)le devi&es to(ether *irelessly, e2tendin( the ran(e of your net*or+. $ost a&&ess )oints *ill &over a 100 meter area and if your *ireless devi&e is built to su))ort the 302.11n

*ireless standard, you *ill (et almost a 000 meter &overa(e area for ea&h a&&ess )oint. To build a *ireless brid(e, &he&+ out the dd=*rt *i+i, and learn ho* to &onfi(ure Lin+sys % T0@; as a *ireless &lient usin( this 8nandte&h thread. N-NT!N"# "S 8 used "S family devi&e &an be )ur&hased ine2)ensively. -n addition to *i=fi, the "S su))orts its o*n *ireless )roto&ols. 9sin( Pi&to&hat, it is )ossible to &hat *ith nearby "S users *ithout havin( any "S (ames. 9nfortunately, the ran(e is Buite short. Some (ames, su&h as the fourth (eneration Po+emon (ames, su))ort mail items. Thus you &an send your messa(e under the (uise of ,ust )layin( a (ame. $ail items &an be sent throu(h the -nternet if you &an (et on the net and you and your )artnerCsD have ea&h other4s friend &odes. The ori(inal "S and the "S Lite do su))ort the #)era *eb bro*ser, but findin( the (ame &ard and memory )a&+ may be very diffi&ult. Startin( *ith the "Si, #)era is do*nloadable. -NT 8N!T 'our &om)uter has the ability to set u) your o*n -NT 8N!T. This *as done B!F# ! the internet *as )o)ulari1ed in t*o *ays: 'our &om)uter dialed u) other &om)uters and sent them the &ontents of a messa(e board, or lo&al )eo)le )eo)le dialed into your &om)uter. 8 nation*ide system &an be set u) this *ay *ith a &entral lo&ation sendin( to many &ities then ea&h &ity sendin( out the info lo&ally. B!<#$! 9NT 8<!8BL! -f you4re (oin( to )ost (overnment se&rets on your *or+=around site, you may *ant to set u) an untra&eable a&&ount. eally, you only need a mail dro), an assumed name, a )re)aid &redit &ard you &an (et at many stores to set u) servi&e. ;!T S8T!LL-T! 8<<!SS 'ou &an have very, very slo* internet if you have somethin( similiar to an -ridium )hone, *hi&h *ould allo* you to do dial u) at 2@00 baud, *hi&h at least (ives you e=mail. This *ill also *or+ *hen your (overnment has shut do*n ;S$ and tele)hone a&&ess, and *ill *or+ )retty mu&h any*here on the )lanet. -f you4re in the ri(ht )la&e, (et yourself :8=S8T a&&ess *hi&h is satellite broadband and *ill not be routed throu(h any internet e2&han(e that &ertain lo&al (overnments may monitor or blo&+ Cunless that (overnment is )art of !9 or er E 9n&le Sam. B8<: T# B8S-<S $a+e some noise: 6ave an air horn or other loud instrument handy. -t may ,ust &ome do*n to bein( able to alert )eo)le in your lo&al (eo(ra)hi& area, *ho *ould other*ise be una*are of an emer(en&y. 'ou may also *ant to learn a bit about $orse &ode and have a &heat sheet available.