Beaming Satellite Internet Into China

For China To Achieve Double Digit Growths Again
Sergey Brin's Is The Right Stand

I have been curious. And Quora has the answer. As suspected, the technology is there, it is the law that seems to be the problem. My definition of free speech in the 21st century is unfettered internet access.

The US bombarded Libya. Beaming satellite internet into undemocratic countries fits my definition of nonviolence beautifully. And I am guessing it is way cheaper than warfare.

Another would be the ring of fire concept. You would beam satellite internet along the border of a country and, oops, sorry some of it spilled over into your country.

Why hasn't anyone beamed satellite-based internet service to China to undermine the Chinese firewall?

There is satellite Internet service available in China - however it's generally subject to the same restrictions, and costs significantly more. In order to get a license to broadcast the signal over the country, the satellite ISP's usually need to either route the traffic through that country (which is transparent to you - i.e.: doesn't show up on a trace route), or support lawful/legal intercept/wiretapping by the country in question. See news last month RIM and India - even though it wasn't satellite, the Indian government wasn't satisfied until RIM put servers in country to allow the government to do lawful/legal intercept.

Due to international rules + regulations, you can't just 'Beam Satellite signals' into a country without their permission.

Satellite Internet access
Internet in China

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The Internet And The Emperors

Image via WikipediaI have liked what Sarkozy has done for Libya. (The Arab Revolutions And My Rethinks On Britain And France) But the guy is on the wrong side of history on the Internet. For a guy who has sought to bring American style individualism and entrepreneurship to his country, he is missing out.

Some of the rants by Sarkozy remind me of a story I read a long time ago that I just tried to look up on the Internet but was not able to find. There was this king. Some of his citizens came to him to report the river in the kingdom had flooded. Don't you worry, the king replied, I will command the river to stop flooding.

The Internet is a genie out of the bottle. That is not an argument to legalize drugs and prostitution. The opposite is true. The massive scale actions that need to be taken to tackle the biggest problems and challenges of our times can not even be imagined without the Internet. The massive data collection that we need to do to tackle global warming is about building an Internet of things. We have to add intelligence to our entire ecosystem so we take real time readings on all metrics to do with the global environment. Globalization minus the Internet would be chaos. But with the Internet globalization will lead to creations of unprecedented levels of wealth in all parts of the world. Cross cultural understandings are not possible without the Internet. Minus the Internet the governments of the world are too cocky, too inefficient, too inept, if not outright despotic and cruel. Minus the Internet a no name black man could not have ended up in the White House. The Internet is a tool with which to cure poverty, to end human trafficking, to end sex slavery. The Internet is the tool with which to bring democracy into every country.

Microfinance: Post Obama Race Talk

Image via WikipediaRace has to be talked about. Gender has to be talked about. That was the angle I came from. And I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City, perhaps the country. And the guy absolutely refused to talk about race. Then one day he said "Race matters powerfully" and I thought, okay, now he is going to start. But no. The guy just did not believe in singing Kumbaya. The you-love-me-you-love-me-not race talk just was not for him.

Then he became president and pumped billions of dollars into inner city schools. And that act was more meaningful to me than any race talk he might have initiated.

Barack Obama Proved Me Wrong On Race And Libya

In Foley Square A Libya Feeling

Image by Rob Blatt via FlickrI have been obsessed with news about Libya. So when I showed up for the Foley Square rally to express solidarity with Planned Parenthood earlier today, I kept thinking about Libya.

This event had enormous buzz. When you hear about an event on Facebook, and PlanCast, and over email and maybe one or two other ways, you know something's going on. And this rally was as big as I expected it to be. Looked to me like the entire New York congressional delegation was there. And many other speakers.

Social Media Is For Real

I am not getting this. I think you have to be global at many levels to truly appreciate social media. I don't feel any kind of a "multiple edentity disorder." Social media makes me whole. Minus social media I feel all too fragmented.

I was born in India. I grew up in Nepal next door, attended high school in Kathmandu, not my hometown, came to America for college at a time when I could not have told you the cultural differences between Kentucky and California. A one year crash course in Kentucky's social conservatism cured me of that fast.

Cultural differences are for real. As of today I don't give two hoots - absolutely don't care - about anybody's birthday, not mine, not anyone else's. That does not make me an uncaring person. That means I grew up in a culture that celebrates festivals, not birthdays. They say every single day in Nepal somewhere a festival is being celebrated.

Libya On My Mind, Libya On Your Mind

Image via WikipediaRight now is a great time to follow me on Twitter. I have been reading up on the Arab democracy movements and sharing the links with abandon. I have also been blogging. My blog posts automatically show up in my Twitter stream.

2011 is 1989. This is big, this is historic. This will be a year to remember. Nothing like this has happened in Arab history ever before.

I am thinking Libya. I am thinking Saudi Arabia. Heck, I am thinking China, and I am thinking Burma.

Pray for Libya. Meditate for Libya. Every ounce of mental energy counts. It does not matter where you are. People braving the streets deserve to be in your thoughts.

And, yes, Iran's time will come all over again. 2009 was not a wasted year. That was dress rehearsal.