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Following the email threat sent by alleged terrorists (in Mumbai) just before the recent bomb blasts in Gujarat, the police have tightened up access to public Net services. Despite the widely published information about the ease of spoofing IP addresses, email addresses and the like, the security forces (cooperating with the ATS, anti terrorist squad, a supposedly* elite police force in many important urban centers), tried very hard to find soem crime with which to charge the American expat whose IP address was used.
[*In true bureaucratic fashion, the ATS has become a dumping ground, or punishment post, for unwanted officers, in several places, according to reports]
Worse, because the Amercian also had an unsecured wireless broadband network running at his home in Navi Mumbai, the press has had a field day decrying the entire concept of WiFi. It is not too much of a stretch to see the telcos and major IT companies (very few on this list will not know who I mean) who are pushing Net over mobile (GSM and CDMA) and WiMax, bth of which lend themselves perfectly to the 'command-control' mentality of the security forces.
The 'right' of the government to snoop has become so audacious that they are not even embarrassed to announce that they only allow VoIP where the service provider has already agreed to allow government agencies to eavesdrop (no mention of warrants or any other civilised mechanisms for enabling exceptions to personal privacy). Needless to say, the mobile companies also have such agreements with the government, and WiMax, being a server driven activity, makes for ease of snooping.
Only Wifi, which supports mesh networking and is ideally suited to community deployment, is free from such 'default' ease of snooping. It may be the only means left to slow down the creeping encroachment of personal civil liberties by democratic governments who are, in act and fact, autocratic and contemptuous of personal civil liberty.
Unfortunately, due to such propaganda, on the one hand, and the fact that, by their very nature, rural and poor communities lack the technical savvy and finances to afford even this inexpensive (total cost of ownership) technology, because the initial cost of access to mobile is so much less. The cost of communication (SMS is the most expensive, by several factors, data communication service in the world) is another matter.
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From: "Frederick "FN" Noronha" <fredericknoronha@...>
To: bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, 19 August, 2008 12:57:38 AM
Subject: [bytesforall_readers] INDIA: TRAI allows Internet telephony; STD tariffs may drop
National
TRAI allows Internet telephony; STD tariffs may drop
New Delhi (PTI): Telecom users will soon be able make calls from their
personal computers with Internet connection to a land line or a mobile
phone and vice versa, if a TRAI recommendation in this regard finds
acceptance with the government.
The suggestion by the telcom regulator, if accepted, will further
boost competition in the domestic long distance segment and may lead
to fall in STD tariff.
"It is envisaged that customers will ultimately benefit from cost
effective and innovative Internet telephony service. These
recommendations will put Indian telecom sector in tune with global
trends. The grey market tendencies shall be curtailed," TRAI said in a
statement.
As per the TRAI recommendations, the STD service providers would be
connected to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) through public Internet
for the purpose and the two service providers would have mutual
agreement for the same.
The move will permit calls from personal computers to fixed line and
mobile phones. At present, a voice call can travel between two
computers but not from a mobile or a fixed phone. This is expected to
open channels of huge revenues for ISPs.
The Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), a technical arm of Department of
Telecom, will work out the number plan for the ISPs to enable them to
offer telephone services.
"Telephone numbers from identified blocks shall be allocated to ISPs,
Unified Access Service Providers, Basic Service Providers and Cellular
Mobile Service Providers for internet telephony," TRAI said.
With a view to make Internet telephony secure, TRAI said, all ISPs
interested to provide unrestricted Internet telephony would install
"Lawful Interception" equipment.
--
FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa- india.org
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