Internet access

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The Internet as We Know It Depends on 22 Ships
The Internet
as We Know It
Depends on
22 Ships
longform

The Internet as We Know It Depends on 22 Ships

Inside the world of undersea cable repair

(Newser) - When you think of what lurks in the ocean's depths, fiber-optic cables probably don't come to mind. They should. As Josh Dzieza reports in a lengthy piece for the Verge , there are some 800,000 miles of these cables running through our oceans that keep the world as...

US Pushed Israel to Restore Internet, Cell Service in Gaza

Blackout deepened humanitarian crisis, UN agencies say

(Newser) - Less than two days after Israel shut down communications networks in Gaza, cellular and internet service was being restored Sunday. That happened after the US pressured the Israeli government, the Washington Post reports. "We made it clear they had to be turned back on," a senior US official...

Africa's Highest Peak Is Getting High-Speed Internet

It's about safety as well as Instagram, authorities say of Kilimanjaro project

(Newser) - Africa's highest peak is getting high-speed internet access. And while authorities in Tanzania hope that being able to livestream ascents of Mount Kilimanjaro or post selfies from its slopes to Instagram will boost tourism, they say it's also about safety. "Previously, it was a bit dangerous for...

For Poorer Students, School Shutdowns Illustrate a Problem

Some families don't have internet or computers at home

(Newser) - The pandemic that has launched a massive, unplanned experiment with distance learning has created extraordinary hurdles for schoolchildren left behind by the digital divide, per the AP . School districts and governments are now racing to give the millions of US students without home internet a chance of keeping up. Nationwide,...

WikiLeaks Says Who Cut Assange's Internet, but Not Why

Says Ecuador turned it off after publication of Clinton's Goldman Sachs speeches

(Newser) - Things appear to be getting tense between Julian Assange and the Ecuadorian Embassy where he's been holed up since 2012. WikiLeaks—which sparked rumors of Assange's death with odd "dead man's switch tweets" Sunday — tweeted Monday that Ecuador had cut off Assange's internet on...

Why Google Plans to Launch 180 Satellites

$1B plan aims to spread Internet to unconnected regions

(Newser) - It already has robot cars, sea barges, and balloons, and now Google is conquering a new frontier: Outer space. The search giant plans to spend more than $1 billion—and, depending on how things go, perhaps more than $3 billion—to send a fleet of satellites into orbit, with the...

Now Google's Getting Drones
 Now Google's 
 Getting Drones 

Now Google's Getting Drones

Firm purchases Titan Aerospace in push to spread Internet access

(Newser) - Amazon's not the only big tech firm with drones in its future . Google has agreed to purchase Titan Aerospace, a New Mexico-based drone maker, NBC News reports. With two-thirds of the world's population still lacking Internet access, "Atmospheric satellites could help bring Internet access to millions of...

Facebook Moves to Get Planet Earth Online

And using Facebook, presumably

(Newser) - Some 4 billion people on this planet do not have Internet access, so a group of tech giants has formed a partnership with the aim of finally connecting those unfortunates to the virtual world of cat GIFs and, ahem, witty news curation websites. Spearheaded by Facebook, the partnership, called Internet....

Canada Judge: Suspects Must Get Internet to Find Lawyer

Ruling orders police to let those arrested use Google

(Newser) - A modern twist on that old line about getting one phone call from jail: A judge in Canada has ruled that police must provide access to the Internet so suspects can look up a lawyer, reports the Toronto Star . The ruling stems from a DUI arrest in which 19-year-old Christopher...

Cuba Finally Gets Faster Internet—in One Direction

Inbound connection is fast, uncensored, researcher says

(Newser) - A fiber-optic cable to Venezuela is up and running and surfing the Internet in Cuba is no longer like watching Fidel Castro's beard grow, though connections are still pretty slow overall, analysts tell the Miami Herald . But the faster Internet only seems to be moving in one direction, with...

Cops: Girl Drugs Parents' Milkshakes to Go Online
Cops: Girl
Drugs Parents'
Milkshakes
to Go Online
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Cops: Girl Drugs Parents' Milkshakes to Go Online

They passed out, and she logged on

(Newser) - A teenager who thought her parents' 10pm cutoff of the Internet was too strict spiked their milkshakes with prescription sleeping meds so she could go online, police say. It worked. When her parents passed out, the 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old friend were able to log on, reports the Sacramento ...

Syria Turns Off the Internet
 Syria Turns Off the Internet 

Syria Turns Off the Internet

Meanwhile, rebels block off airport

(Newser) - Someone appears to have completely cut off Syria's Internet access, two US-based monitoring companies reported today. Landlines and mobile phone signals have been cut off as well in at least some parts of Damascus, another activist tells the Guardian . The government has cut off phone and Internet access in...

Last Place in Airing Olympics? USA! USA!

Comcast rules with iron fist as rest of world streams for free: Susan Crawford

(Newser) - The US may be a top medal earner, but it's among the last-place finishers when it comes to airing the Olympics. As Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee tweeted in the opening ceremony, "This is for everyone." Not Stateside, it seems: While residents of at least 64 territories across...

Man Gets 3 Years for Stealing Internet Access

He also made money teaching others to do the same

(Newser) - A federal judge sentenced an Oregon hacker to three years in prison this week for pirating Internet access from cable companies—and publishing a book teaching others to do the same. "I think you committed a very serious crime," the judge told the 28-year-old, saying he hoped to...

Cuba's Celebrated Internet Cable MIA

Despite $70M project, access still terrible

(Newser) - It was all sunshine, smiles, and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age. But more than a year after...

Internet Is a Tool, Not a Right
 Internet Is a Tool, Not a Right 
OPINION

Internet Is a Tool, Not a Right

Access enables rights, but is not a right itself: Vinton G. Cerf

(Newser) - With Facebook and Twitter fueling protests across the Arab world, many wonder: Is the Internet a human or civil right? No, declares Google VP Vinton G. Cerf firmly. Courts in various countries have declared it so, but the UN stopped short, calling the Internet "an indispensable tool for realizing...

Comcast Plans $10 Internet for Low-Income Families

Plan stems from NBC merger

(Newser) - Comcast is readying a discount Internet service for families whose kids receive free lunches by way of the National School Lunch program, the company announced on its blog . For $9.95 a month, families who live in one of the 39 states Comcast serves with at least one child participating...

Iran Plans to Unplug Internet, Create Its Own

Tehran aims to put all citizens on internal network

(Newser) - Iran is waging war on open Internet. Looking to limit the cyber-infiltration of Western ideas, Iran's telecommunications chief claimed that, in two years time, all Iranians would be forced to use a state-censored, fully-internal Internet. About 60% of the nation's homes and businesses are expected to be on...

Mubarak Fined $34M for Cutting Internet

He put Egypt's protesters offline temporarily in January

(Newser) - He faces far more serious charges, but this is a start: Hosni Mubarak has been fined $34 million for blocking Egypt's nation's Internet and mobile phone networks during protests in January, reports the BBC . Two other former high-ranking officials got hit with similar fines. The unprecedented action by...

Egypt Blocks Internet, Deploys Special Forces

Communication tools shut down ahead of 'day of rage'

(Newser) - As what is expected to be the biggest day of protests yet looms, Egyptian authorities have blocked Internet traffic and deployed an elite special operations counterterrorism force. Users are reporting major disruptions to Internet and text messaging services, and Cairo appears to be completely offline, the Huffington Post reports.

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