Video shows Cuban fears of Internet, social media

[joshcryer]

Source: Reuters

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba fears the United States is encouraging dissent through social media such as Facebook and Twitter with the goal of toppling the government, according to the video of what appears a meeting of Cuban officials posted on websites this week.

The 50-minute video apparently is a presentation given by an Internet expert to officials of Cuba's Interior Ministry last June.

A link to the video at http://vimeo.com/19402730">http://vimeo.com/19402730 was posted on several blogs, including that of Cuban anti-government blogger Yoani Sanchez, and on the website of the Miami Herald. It is not known how the video was obtained.

The expert, whose identity is not disclosed, told the officials the United States is promoting use of Facebook and Twitter to foment dissent similar to ways it was used in insurrections in the Ukraine in 2004 and in Iran in 2010.

Read more: http://www.talktalk.co.uk/technology/news/reuters/2011/02/06/video-shows-cuban-fears-of-internet-social-media.html

---

This was posted yesterday, but late last night, so I believe it is in the 12 hour window. No Cuban citizen utilizing the internet is permitted to view a US website (edit: incorrect), as per controls inacted on the Cuban side. Gross (mentioned in the article) was arrested because he was distributing communications equipment (internet equipment) to allow free (as in freedom) wifi access points to be set up.

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/29-07-2010/114424-another_empire_lie_that_cuba_hi-0/

[FLPanhandle]

1. All authoritarian regimes hate it when people can talk without government control

The people they rule might just decide that they don't want them anymore. *gasp*

[joshcryer]

11. What's alarming is that Cuba is actually hiring consultants to talk about how to avoid this.

Which indicates that they'll try (unsuccessfully) to tighten down Cuba's internet access.

[Mika]

13. Cuba's internet access is limited right now by the US sanctions

US based Cisco cannot connect Cuba to the only Caribbean fiber optic trunk, because that would be a violation of Helms-Burton.


Why grind a dull ax?

---

[joshcryer]

16. Cite the exact wording of Helms-Burton that forbids it.

[Mika]

23. Sorry. Not Helms-Burton. The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act

From sec 102 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act

(g) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES- Section 1705(e) of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 6004(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
`(5) PROHIBITION ON INVESTMENT IN DOMESTIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES- Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize the investment by any United States person in the domestic telecommunications network within Cuba. For purposes of this paragraph, an `investment' in the domestic telecommunications network within Cuba includes the contribution (including by donation) of funds or anything of value to or for, and the making of loans to or for, such network.
`(6) REPORTS TO CONGRESS- The President shall submit to the Congress on a semiannual basis a report detailing payments made to Cuba by any United States person as a result of the provision of telecommunications services authorized by this subsection.'.
(h) CODIFICATION OF ECONOMIC EMBARGO- The economic embargo of Cuba, as in effect on March 1, 1996, including all restrictions under part 515 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be in effect upon the enactment of this Act, and shall remain in effect, subject to section 204 of this Act.

There is a myriad of other restrictions. You'll have to do some of your own home work, which i suggest you do prior to postulating on Cuban internet access.

---

[joshcryer]

26. The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 actually permits internet under the authorization of the US.

Telecommunications Services. -- Telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba shall be permitted.

Telecommunications Facilities. -- Telecommunications facilities are authorized in such quantity and of such quality as may be necessary to provide efficient and adequate telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba.
Licensing of Payments to Cuba. --

The President may provide for the issuance of licenses for the full or partial payment to Cuba of amounts due Cuba as a result of the provision of telecommunications services authorized by this subsection, in a manner that is consistent with the public interest and the purposes of this title, except that this paragraph shall not require any withdrawal from any account blocked pursuant to regulations issued under section 5(b) of the Trading with the Enemy Act.
If only partial payments are made to Cuba under subparagraph (A), the amounts withheld from Cuba shall be deposited in an account in a banking institution in the United States. Such account shall be blocked in the same manner as any other account containing funds in which Cuba has any interest, pursuant to regulations issued under section 5(b) of the Trading with the Enemy Act.

Obama's new authorization for a line doesn't require new law because since 1992 we could've done it: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Fact-Sheet-Reaching-out-to-the-Cuban-people/

It's forbidden for private investors to do it without US authorization, but I don't recall Cuba ever asking for it (and I searched long and hard for that, btw). Cuba instead just insists the embargo won't let them.

[Hannah Bell]

87. From a sponsor:

You fail to understand the larger strategy behind the Cuban Democracy Act and the telecommunications policy and the implications of both.

The policy is the result of the law. Administration guidelines state their purpose is the "implementation of the telecommunications provisions of the Cuban Democracy Act."

The strategy has been to tighten the economic embargo to increase pressure on the Castro regime while permitting a flood of information into Cuba from outside by liberalizing telecommunications, direct mail and travel.

(Rep.) ROBERT G. TORRICELLI Washington, Aug. 1, 1993 The writer heads the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/14/opinion/l-us-cuba-law-includes-more-communication-640793.html?src=pm


To the Editor:

I write you as president of the Cuban American Committee for Peace, which has a membership of more than 17,000 Cubans residing in the United States, South America, Spain and Canada. All of us still have family in Cuba.

I was appalled by Representative Robert G. Torricelli's Jan. 5 letter, in which he brags of the effects his Cuban "Democracy" Act has had on the Cuban economy. He did not address the effect the decrease of United States subsidiary trade has had in human terms. Of the $718 million in subsidiary trade eliminated by Mr. Torricelli's law, 75 percent has been for food and medicine.

I visit Cuba regularly and have seen a significant change in my family's nutritional status since this law's enactment in 1992. I recently visited my 18-year-old son in Havana, and was disturbed at how thin he and the rest of my relatives have become.

Recently a United States subsidiary based in Canada sought to sell baby food to Cuba. It could not because of the Cuban Democracy Act, which states no United States subsidiary can trade with Cuba. This is what Mr. Torricelli is proud of? We are talking about food for infants, not military weapons. This law is a policy of genocide that seeks to create a Somalia in Cuba.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/20/opinion/l-law-on-cuba-trade-starves-the-babies-928992.html?src=pm


Soon cubans will be able to enjoy the freedom & democracy the US brings to Haiti & the former soviet union. and of course, our ally egypt.

[joshcryer]

91. I do not see where I fail to understand this. It's "the great disease of 21st century."

Cuba hates the idea of the internet.

[Mika]

92. That's why they have been decrying the sanctions preventing their connection to hi speed access?

That's why the Cuba/Venezuela cable project is underway?

Strange reasoning you have.

---

[joshcryer]

94. It's an excuse, and a good one, at that. The video underscores this point so well.

They are all "omg US is screwing us over" "oh shit we don't want the stuff the US is offering."

Obama authorized a fiber cable.

Where is it? Why isn't Cuba opening their arms full for it?

Unlike Venezuela we won't require inordinate fees (buy oil for internet).

We'll give them access to the backbone at discount rates!

[Mika]

96. Show me the language of Obama suspending the sanctions on Cisco, allowing Cuba's connection to....

the Cisco owned, and only, Caribbean trunk.

---

[joshcryer]

97. Here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Fact-Sheet-Reaching-out-to-the-Cuban-people/

Again, none of the sanctions *forbids*, in *law*, the United States from forming telecommunication routes.

Again, if that were the case, Obama could *not,* in our Democratic Republic, simply *change the law by decree*, he would need a majority of the votes (actually with the stupid filibuster system we have he'd probably need 60 votes minimum).

Obama continues to ease the restrictions:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12197939

[Catherina]

61. You have great patience n/t

[social_critic]

82. Who says it has to be a fiber optic trunk by CIsco?

Excuses excuses excuses excuses.

[Yavin4]

95. That Doesn't Mean That Non-US Based Telcos Could Not Hook Cuba Up n/t

[Hannah Bell]

85. so many assumptions in your post

[Mika]

2. Josh, Cubans in Cuba browse US websites. Why on earth would you post that they can't?

I have friends and family in Cuba, and they do just that .... browse US websites.

Jeez. The under informed anti Cuba propaganda is steep here.

As to Gross, he was working for USAID using a tourist visa, as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. As illegal in Cuba as it is here.

---

[H2O Man]

3. They hate us

for our freedoms. Their government forces everyone to call french fries "fidel fries." And they have beards! beards, I say!

[stevenleser]

6. "USAID...Unregistered agent of a foreign government"

Sort of. First of all, calling someone who works for USAID "an agent of a foreign government" is borderline hyperbolic.

That person doesn't attract the attention of immigration in virtually any other country in Latin America.

[Mika]

8. FYI, one cannot be working using a tourist visa.

Secondly, if one is working for a foreign agency, then one must register using the appropriate visa applications.

Same applies for foreigners seeking to work in the US, including persons working for government agencies.

---

[stevenleser]

12. I know all of that. I also know it happens all the time.

Depending on the circumstances, its either a huge deal or barely of interest to the host country.

What happened here is barely of interest to most other countries in Latin America.

[joshcryer]

7. Because they can't?

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/29-07-2010/114424-another_empire_lie_that_cuba_hi-0/

When a page or a service that is off limits for Cuban users detects that it was accessed from an IP on the island, a window appears that says: "You come from a country included by the U.S. on the list of terrorist countries and are not permitted access to this page." Or it just simply says "not found."

And as far as I know the US does not make it illegal for foreign entities to set up internet communications in the United States. And I know of no United States event where such an entity was labled a "foreign agent."

[Mika]

10. Google is your friend, Josh

Unregistered Foreign Agent Cases
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/07/02/unregistered-foreign-agent-cases/

Who Must Register as a Foreign Agent?
http://www.slate.com/id/2085430/

Foreign Agents Registration Act Enforcement
http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm02062.htm

---

[joshcryer]

14. I don't see any of those cases representing the type of agent I am talking about.

It appears that they either violate embargos (that the US set up) or are exchanging private information that they shouldn't be. Are you saying it is actually illegal in Cuba to set up telecommunications networks?

[Mika]

19. No, it is not.

There are several joint telecommunications projects going on in Cuba right now. With Spanish, Mexican, Brazilian, and Venezuelan companies.

One could only ask such a question if one is operating under propaganda based assumptions and a real information vacuum.

---

[joshcryer]

21. So if I flew there with telecommunications equipment (violating my own states laws)...

...they'd happily let me set it up? I call fucking bullshit because they forbid importing such things.

http://www.cubavacationstravel.com/cuba_custom_prohibited_items.php

[Mika]

25. Ventures undertaken in Cuba must be legal, licensed, joint ventures.

Foreigners cannot simply come to the US and set-up willy nilly with no licensing or permitting or regulatory approval.

C'mon Josh. I won't "debate" puerile points.

I have family in Cuba. I have lived there. I have been on many trips there, including many professional trips (I'm a surgeon), all done with proper licensing.

---

[joshcryer]

27. I can buy some wifi access point hardware from China and the US will let it in no problem.

The US doesn't have a restriction on it, does Cuba?

[Mika]

32. But the IP needs licensing and permitting.

Like all businesses in the US that operate legally.

Its not a total free for all here.

---

[joshcryer]

35. That is absolute nonsense, I have a network in my home that is totally free.

All the IPs are created in my private network for free, no permits or license. As long as my equipment gets through customs (which is pretty much guaranteed because the US doesn't sit down and verify every single piece of electronics coming in), and as long as the equipment isn't interfering with other people, I'm good.

And even if it does interfere I have to get caught and then I'll just have it taken away from me or be required to re-certify it.

All American citizens have implicit permission to use wifi signals without licensing or permitting, that's a fact.

If you're talking about spectrum that the US does require to be licensed, fair enough, I'm talking about spectrum that the US doesn't require licensing. If Cuba doesn't allow anyone to have free spectrum like the US does, then that should be changed, I believe.

[Mika]

68. I should have been clearer. By IP I mean Internet Provider.

Not IP addresses or VPNs.

Sorry for the confusion.

Internet Providers are licensed and require permitting to function in the USA.

---

[joshcryer]

71. Seriously? The FCC does not regulate the internet. The FTC regulates businesses.

You need a permit in a given locality to have a business so that you may pay taxes on revenue, but no licensing is required. But this applies to all businesses, period.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/internet.html

I am an internet provider for dozens of people (I just checked and it's 52 people connected at this very moment). I have paid no permit and I have paid no licensing fees.

The United States will even loan you money to become an ISP for rural locations: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/utp_farmbill.html

Internet providers that do not use free spectrum must of course license spectrum from the FCC, but remember, I'm talking about unlicensed spectrum.

I see where you are going with this but I frankly do not think it applies. I will find the regulations for radio spectrum in Cuba and see how they are.

[joshcryer]

43. Unlicensed spectrum in the United States:

http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Section.2843.html

As long as I have access to this spectrum I can set up a private network that can handle tens of thousands of people. My whole apartment building is benefiting from my access point since i have 50 mbps internet access.

Can I set this up in Cuba or is there no unlicensed spectrum in Cuba?

The FCC even recently announced that they were opening up new spectrum which is to be unlicensed: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/23/AR2010092306453.html

What this means? In the capitalist United States of America, we will be able to have open source hardware and free telecommunications across the country. Once the hackers get a hold of it.

[joshcryer]

48. When Super WiFi is finalized, will Cuba allow Cubans to have equipment to access it?

Because there will be Super WiFi access points in FL and they will reach Cuba.

Super WiFi will be unlicensed in the United States (I will be able to provide internet to thousands of people as opposed to the dozens that access it now). Will it be unlicensed in Cuba?

[social_critic]

101. Yeah yeah, let's see if a Cuban citizen can get the license, shall we?

Who are you kidding? You know very well the regime is repressive, it muzzled the media, it muzzles the internet, and it has an asphixiating and extremely corrupt buraucracy. Heck, I don't want a foreigner to get the license.

I want my cousin to get the gear to open up as an internet service provider, and run typical services include web page hosting. We would also like to run a messenger service we can use to coordinate anti government demonstrations, publish anti government publications, and recruit Cubans to push for a Constitutional amendment to separate the communist party from the government structure (that will be like taking the alien from inside its victim, but we think we can do it if we emphasize the victim's health and consider the alien a disposable piece of tissue).

As a side business, we want to sell cheap tablets they can use to connect to the internet, of course. And I'm even thinking about a t-shirt shop where we print shirts with slogans saying "Comunismo es una idiotez" and "Es hora de cambiar el gobierno".

What do you think?

[social_critic]

18. Cuba is a repressive regime, they control the internet

Only a few Cubans can browse the internet. Most of them can't write emails (my relatives aren't as well connected as yours, they have to hand over the message to one of the lucky fellows they know who does have access to the internet and an email account).

Mika, you really should stop trying to apologize for the Cuban regime. You know what's going on, the abuses, the terrible hopelessness, and the lack of freedom. Why insist? you are on the wrong end of the stick. History is going to bury Castro in a heap of scorn, and all you'll have left is ashes.

[joshcryer]

20. I don't know why everyone is deflecting, anyway, the video is fucking clear as can be.

They are terrified of the Cuban people getting access to social media, and when it happens (because the Cuban people will demand it) things are going to be quite interesting.

[sufrommich]

47. Because deflection is all they've got. nt

[social_critic]

57. Why do they deflect? Come on, take a guess.

The key to debate in these blogs, when you can't discuss the point, is to change the subject, divert, confuse, and blow smoke.

Of course they are terrified of a free press, and they think the internet is their enemy - I saw the video, and I know what the guy said, but he's full of it. He is terrified of technology, because he knows it's going to take them down. So this isn't just a cyber war - they can write all they want, but they don't have the truth, they have their phoney baloney slogans, their fake statistics, and their stories about the wonderful acomplishments of the revolution.

But what they don't get is that those same accomplishments are what's going to be their undoing. Smart educated people hate to be kept in the dark and treated like children, fed scraps, and sit and watch as the oligarchs who run things live well and hobnob with foreigners.

So the Cuban people will eventually kick them out of power precisely because the regime can only survive by controlling their minds, and technology today isn't that easy for them to control. Technology will create the holes through which the truth flows, and this truth is corrosive, it eats them. They already lost the battle, and it has barely started.

So, today they are terrified of anything which lets people debate them, they can't stand it if you complain openly and if you really mean it, and forget it if you want to change their lousy system - they put you in jail if you propose it.

Things will indeed get interesting in the future. One thing we know, these regimes eventually do fall. Hopefully, this one will fall and the new one which replaces it will be led by people with common sense and who respect human rights.

Regarding this guy's comments about his family using the internet and so on, it's baloney. MY family can't use the internet, and most Cubans can't. The internet they can see is protected by a Chinese style firewall. Their email is read, the phones are tapped, and people can't breathe freedom.

Things in Cuba are so bad, the system is so repressive, that I doubt we will see anything close to what's happening in Egypt. The Cuban regime is Orwellian, Stalinesque, you name it. But eventually, I'm sure, it will collapse from its own inconsistent behavior, its corruption, and old age.

[bobbolink]

24. bwahahahahaha! critic indeed. ROFL

[joshcryer]

28. No one is talking about the video, everyone is bashing my commentary.

I should have left out commentary but it probably would've sank to the bottom of the page in five minutes.

[bobbolink]

29. Cause it deserves it. thanks for playing.

[joshcryer]

31. It hasn't sunk so I'm happy with it.

[Mika]

33. BS and all?

:hurts:

---

[joshcryer]

37. Did you watch the video?

I'm about halfway through.

[Mika]

70. Watched it this morning.

Funny spin put on it by the Cuba "experts" here, who've never set foot on the island nor lived there.

---

[sufrommich]

74. Using that criteria,anyone who's ever been to Cuba is

better able to discern the facts than those who have not,including all those anti-Castro Cubans down in Florida.

[social_critic]

77. I'm not in Florida, but I'm an anti Castro Cuban

When I was in Cuba, we saw the way the proCastro foreigners were paraded around, and we realized they were being sold a lie. There's another issue: Many of us do get to talk to other Cubans as they come out. Or we get messages brought out by Cubans who go. Or we go ourselves (we get to go more than you do because we have a special exception).

I can honestly say, I see these pro Castro groups as two distinct populations. One is the dishonest ones who realize Castro runs a thuggish regime but lie about it. And the other are the naive sandalistas who are easy to deceive - possibly because they want to be deceived anyway.

When the regime falls, and it will fall, then we'll find out more about it, won't we?

[bobbolink]

36. Yup, keeping people in an uproar is satisfying. It deflects from actual priorities.

[joshcryer]

38. GD/GDP require lame controversial editorializing or people won't notice.

I don't feel bad for being part of the crowd.

[bobbolink]

39. So, you admit to being divisive in order to gain posts?

Quite a lofty goal.

[joshcryer]

41. Not really, I just know that if I did not write my own comments it would've sank.

[Billy Burnett]

4. Your commentary is not accurate.

It's easy to say such stuff to Americans who are travel banned from Cuba by their own gov't from seeing Cuba for themselves.

Cubans who can afford it, can and do read US sites.

[Mika]

5. Not to mention that Cubans read international newspapers and mags too.

Of course, if one hasn't been there to see this, then its easy to spout BS.

:hi:

---

[joshcryer]

9. Sure, I will edit that, I clearly misread what was said.

D.: From the island you can get connected to a U.S. site?

RME: When a page or a service that is off limits for Cuban users detects that it was accessed from an IP on the island, a window appears that says: "You come from a country included by the U.S. on the list of terrorist countries and are not permitted access to this page." Or it just simply says "not found."

Charming that Cuba is following US guidelines.

[Mika]

15. Funny that I've posted to DU from Cuba using a friends personal computer.

I guess that I shouldn't believe my lyin' eyes. :eyes:

---

[joshcryer]

17. Can you read the Anarchist FAQ in Cuba?

btw, since you require a license to access internet in Cuba (due to bandwidth constraints) I do believe that your "friend" is hardly representative of the Cuban people at large.

[Mika]

30. So, IPs operate in the US w/o a license?

That's news to me.

---

[joshcryer]

34. Huh? ICANN costs practically nothing.

And very very few users are operating at ICANN level address requests.

No I don't personally need a "license" to get a domain name or IP address.

[ngant17]

50. Cuba has to operate under different constraints than here

it has been under continuous assault by US-based terrorism for half a century. Half a billion dollars of damage to its infrastructure, hundreds of innocent civilians killed, many more maimed and wounded.

Cuba requires a higher degree of security to protect its people. When relations are normalized, then I could find fault with blocking some trivial access to Anarchist FAQ sites.

[sufrommich]

60. "Cuba requires a higher degree of security to protect its people. "

Is it the Cuban people demanding their government protect them from the bad ideals?
The amount of censorship some DUers will defend to protect their pet dictatorships is chilling.

[joshcryer]

63. I can't remember if Reporters Without Borders is deemed clean, but they consider Cuba most censored.

[sufrommich]

65. I'm sure Reporters Without Borders is crawling with

imperialist lackeys. :sarcasm:

[social_critic]

81. Baloney. You are apologizing for a repressive regime

When the Cuban regime falls, the security aparatchiks will be reviled just like the Stasi was in Germany.

[ngant17]

98. you are sympathizing with US-based terrorism

which can not be excused. I do not apologize for my defense of Cuba's right to self-determination.

The Cuban Revolution is faithful to its principles, to its martyrs and to its people. It has charted its course from national liberation into the domain of social advancement, and it is engaged in the construction of socialism with the firm belief that socialism is the future for humanity. But the ways of struggle for reaching a form of socialism, it must be defined by the concrete historical traditions of each country.

[social_critic]

99. Got nothing to do with Cuba's right to self determination

The one thing Cuba lacks is the right to self determination. The Castro brothers and the fascist oligarchs who crowd around them don't represent the Cuban people. They are not CUBA. So you are not defending Cuba's right to self determination. What you are defending is the rights of a bunch of social parasites led by two diplodocus to tyrannize and abuse the Cuban people.

The "Cuban Revolution" is garbage. Castro betrayed the people. The people of the Cuban revolution you brag about are the parasites who climbed into power for its own sake, and who peddle whatever mechanism is du jour as long as it allows them to cling to power. Their struggle is for power, to be able to pass on to their children the power they have, to enjoy luxuries, foreign travel, and the other goodies communist party and security service nabobs like to get.

In the future, when the regime falls, you will be shown to have been struggling for corruption, venality, human rights abuses, and the enrichment and empowerment of a bunch of criminals. Struggle on, keep on chugging, but you WILL END UP IN THE HEAP OF HISTORY. WE WILL BURY YOUR REGIME.

[bobbolink]

40. It isn't meant to be accurate.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=368566&mesg_id=368889

Its about stirring the pot.

We succumbed.

[joshcryer]

42. Hey, I was speaking broadly. The rest of the OP and my comments here are truth.

[bobbolink]

44. Ah, backpeddling. Look around... nobody is buying that 50s Evil Cubans stuff anymore.

The shelf life has expired.

But your confession lives on. :hi:

[joshcryer]

45. I'm one of the few people to admit to stuff like that.

Cuba will undergo a revolution in due course.

[bobbolink]

46. Admitting to buying expired sell-by-date goods.

[blindpig]

22. Massive false equivalency. n/t

[flamingdem]

49. Hey senor anarchist! There are many thousands of Cubans using Facebook daily

An myspace and every other site you can imagine, FROM THE ISLAND

There is no block on that site and what you are referring to with the blocks is countrywide intranet that doesn't use bandwidth.

As I pointed out in another post the US blocked Cuba from having a cable for internet from Florida thus they have been restricted
to satellite, very expensive and limited bandwith.

[joshcryer]

51. I've been unable to find any such event occurring.

Can you narrow it down for me? What year was this at least?

[joshcryer]

53. BTW, why would this video, which focuses on Twitter and Facebook, have been made...

...if what you are saying has any relevance whatsoever? Just because a few thousand people who have licenses to use the internet can go to Facebook doesn't mean that the majority can.

[flamingdem]

59. I have hundreds of friends from Cuba on Facebook

and they don't have as much access as we do but they manage to get on there.

The fiber optic cable that was a done deal before the USA stopped it was happening in the late 1990s and it was a Canadian company.

You'll find references to that. It was going to start in Florida.

[social_critic]

100. OK, so stupid US sanctions make it difficult to lay cable to Cuba

The sanctions are stupid, we all know that. The question is, if there's a new cable coming to Cuba from Venezuela, will it be a cable free of Chinese style controls? Or will they keep Cuba behind a firewall?

I bet they'll have a firewall, they'll sift through emails, and they'll use illegal wiretaps. They fear the flood of traffic, but they do intend to control it. This is what this guy's seminar is about.

[Better Believe It]

52. I don't read Spanish. Where is the English translation of what this alleged gov't official said?

Anyone know who he is, when he gave the talk, where he gave the presentation and before what group?

[joshcryer]

54. Read Yoani Sánchez's blog:

http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/

[Better Believe It]

55. Where is the English translation of the alleged government officials talk?

[joshcryer]

56. We'll have to wait, my spanish is very poor, but I saved it and may try to do excerpts.

Actually maybe uploading it to YouTube and getting it to translate might work? Not sure.

[social_critic]

62. Learn Spanish

I suggest you learn Spanish. If you understand and read Spanish, you will be able to understand what's going on a lot better. A cyberwar is on, and tyrants all over the world are terrified. This isn't just about Assange and Wikileaks versus the US and its robots. This is about lots of people everywhere fighting like crazy to let the truth be known.

This Cuban government employee is just a trainer, trying to teach them about the way it's going to be (according to their party line).

But just like the mighty USA could not stop Assange, these petty dictators and ancient dinosaurs who rule so many countries will not stop what's coming at them. You got a choice, get smart and learn, or side with tyranny and get run over. But we're not going to be satisfied to see the world ruled by incompetents and thieves whose hobby is to abuse human rights and indulge their pets. The time has come.

[joshcryer]

67. The cables that wikileaks released on Cuba only underscore the video.

So one can't say that the cables are just some diplomats ramblings, this video and the cables show that Cuba is more afraid of bloggers than "traditional dissidents." You can write language that is critical of the Cuban government, become a popular figure, and then say things that the Cuban government can't just arrest you for.

The cables are extremely enlightening: http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09HAVANA221.html

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/01/10HAVANA9.html

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/09/09HAVANA592.html

The bloggers want to distance themselves from the "dissidents," because they will change Cuba through words and information exchange.

[Better Believe It]

75. I don't think I can learn it quickly enough to translate the talk in the next few days.

But, it's good being bi-lingual or more and wish I had learned it back in school.

I'm still working on English.

[joshcryer]

76. I'm going to see what I can do, it's a lot of work to translate the whole thing.

I am afraid excerpts are going to get me calls of bias especially if my translation is not 100% perfect.

[joshcryer]

84. I found a translation effort, just be patient, it is very long and wordy, and will take some time.

You can follow the progress: http://hemosoido.com/?page_id=15&kcpnum=4&lang=English

(Note, this is in Spanish but a translator works pretty decently, Google translate is actually quite good.)

[joshcryer]

86. At the rate it's going you *might* be able to learn enough Spanish to understand it though. :P

[joshcryer]

88. Ahah, someone wrote a blog about the agenda:

Here is their link of the video, and the claims of vindication: http://pequenohermanoenglish.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/the-cyber-battle/

And the blog posting itself, which describes in good detail the contents of the video: http://pequenohermanoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/operation-blogger-algorithm-for-a-disaster/

[joshcryer]

58. BTW, Gen Y is apparently, allegedly, blocked in Cuba.

[Mika]

64. Here....

From the thread on this in DU's Lat Am forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x47916

Check posts 14 and 15

Yoani says that Yoani is censored, on her blog that many people read in Cuba. :eyes:
Yoani is full of it.

---

[joshcryer]

66. I think it clearly depends on where it is being accessed.

There are many others in Cuba saying they cannot get access to desdecuba.com, it's not just her saying it.

[social_critic]

69. Mere pro-Castro apologizing

It appears Sanchez is in Cuba. This doesn't mean Cubans have access to her website. I know a young girl who works in China distributing CDs to get through the Great Firewall. The authors are Germans who used to live in East Germany, and want to put the kebotsch to a communist regime. These firewalls filter access to sites, and they're easy to set up if the government controls the trunklines.

Trunkline control is one of the aims of the internet control law passed by Venezuela's Chavez, - so it's clear their Cuban handlers are going to help them set up a firewall around Venezuela. Because I'm in Venezuela, I'll either have to stop writing, or I'll have to work out a way to spoof them. Or I'll have to leave the country.

Returning to Cuba, to complicate matters, most Cubans don't have their own internet links. This means they have to go to a public place to read the internet. Being Cuban, and having lived under the communists, I can see why it would be somewhat dangerous to be reading a "subversive" website in public. Therefore there's a triple hit involved:

1) They use a firewall
2) Private access to the internet is very limited
3) Public access to "subversive" pages is dangerous

To get around it, we got to write software to spoof the firewall. Or we have to get the ability for Cubans using portable computers to link up via satlink - and you can get 20 years in a Cuban jail if they find you handing a satlink to a Cuban native, so don't try this yourselves. Regarding public access, it's hopeless. I wouldn't try to risk somebody's life telling them to read subversive material in an open Cuban website.

These things take patience.

[joshcryer]

72. The librarians in the US have done an admirable job keeping libraries open.

I was able to, testing it, access pornography from the local library (which librarians argued should be allowed). It shocked me, to be honest, because I think it would be reasonable to stop people from browsing porn at the library. After testing my library connection for around an hour I was unable to find any site that was blocked (browsing not only porn sites but anti government sites).

(Note: don't try this on a library provided computer, unless you turn images off in the browser. My libraries allow me to run applications off of a USB stick, so I did it in FireFox.)

Apparently some bloggers in Cuba have stated that the filters are intermittent, and that generally you can find places where the filters are lax. Indicating to me that the filters are done on a site for site basis (given the low penetration of internet this is relatively easy). For Cuba with the Venezuelan line, we can expect the filter to be at the line rather than the client locations. This is much much easier to circumvent because you can encrypt your data client-side.

[joshcryer]

73. btw, google "php anonymizer." There are tens of thousands of them and they work anywhere.

People set up new ones every week because they get taken down quickly. Cuba will probably be a heavy user of these anonymizers if they set up a firewall.

[social_critic]

79. I'm posting from Venezuela, so I need one of those

I definitely need to get up to speed. But I think I may punt and leave this place, crime is getting really really bad.

[Name removed]

83. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[joshcryer]

102. Oops, didn't mean to give a recipe for doing something arguably illegal.

(Not illegal that I know since I never agreed to any EULA preventing it, but w/e.)

[joshcryer]

103. Better Believe It, here's the transcript:

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=7111

[flamingdem]

78. Just curious. Were you born in Cuba? nt

[social_critic]

80. Yes, flamingdem, I was born in Cuba.

And I shook hands with Fidel Castro. And I can't discuss much more because I live in Venezuela and they could come knock on my door (although I think I'm pretty low on their radar screen and I'm probably getting out soon).

I also have access to people inside Cuba - relatives on both sides of this equation.

And I imagine you do realize Venezuela is crawling with Cubans. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

[LooseWilly]

89. Ironically, you make Cuban access sound more difficult than that in Iran.

Not to cast aspersions on your veracity... but, I'm not buying it.

Ohh, and dude in the video just mentioned that there are 1000s in every neighborhood of Havana that have access to the net that aren't monitored by the state... bootleg access I think (in the neighborhood of the 10 minute mark)... which supports my contention that your assessment is BS.

I know that in North Tehran, for instance, where I have many relatives living, there is no high-speed internet access (apparently because that's the neighborhood that the Imams live in and it would be a security risk). Meanwhile, I know that in Iran, anyone who had access to high-speed internet was able to get hold of software to bypass the government's shut-downs during the "Green Revolution"... which is part of the reason Twitter and Facebook were still of use.

Sounds like the Cubans are also afraid of signals coming out of Costa Rica... and issues of false or misleading news being disseminated from websites which then disappear (hmm, a practice that will soon be legal in Canada according to another thread)... coming out of the US.

It's a shame that Cubans seem to think that they're French, and insist on swallowing half the syllables they're meant to be speaking... or maybe this video would be more comprehensible. Talk of using common interests and common aims to counteract propaganda coming in via social media (from the US)... though the discussion of the Green Revolution in Iran was interesting— to hear how another government that feels targeted by the US (quite rightly) should be talking about it in terms of agitators...

I'm suddenly reminded of the words of Count Cavour of Piedmont (Italy) from around 1846: "If the social order were to be genuinely menaced, if the great principles on which it rests were to be at serious risk, then many of the most determined oppositionists, the most enthusiastic republicans would be, we are convinced, the first to join the ranks of the conservative party" —in the context of that quote the liberals of the Democratic Party would be equatable with the "republicans". I suspect it would also apply to the anti-Castroists... and for exactly the same reasons.

[joshcryer]

90. Iran has 20 million people online, nearly 30%. Cuba has 1 million online, or around 10%.

Of course, Cuba doesn't have an example, as yet, of a blogger dying in prison for espousing unsanctioned ideas, but yeah. They speak of bootleg access negatively, though.

You can read Reporters without Borders assessment of Cuba here: http://en.rsf.org/internet-enemie-cuba,36678.html

At the bare minimum Cuba and Iran are equally as evil with regards to internet usage. At most Iran is worse because we have instances of murder of Iranian bloggers. As far as I can tell, though, there are more anti-Iran bloggers than there are anti-Cuba. The sample is small though, I can't say that for sure.

[social_critic]

93. We Cubans don't think we're French - our brains work at high speed

The reason why you can't understand us Cubans when we speak is the speed we use to say the words. We Cubans have highly developed synapses, and think and speak at approximately 2.4 X the speed of a normal human being. If you want more details please refer to studies published in The Lancet by E.M. Perez in 1974.

The Cuban brain has also been found to survive on pure glucose. This genetic mutation is associated with the change in the PT-110 gene. The gene activates receptors in the brain which induce cubans to build rafts and flee the island. As you know, Cubans are famous for their long raft trips, undertaken in the harshest conditions. Ancient polynesians came close, but they lacked the ability to dodge patrol boats equipped with machine guns.

Cubans can paddle their rafts in the dark at high speed, and many of them do make it past the patrol boats. They are genetically programmed to paddle as hard as possible in a northerly direction, and when they reach a beach they cry, and then engage in sex and spawn.

[LooseWilly]

105. If Cubans think and speak at 2.4 x human-normal, they should all own their own stores in no time.

Since they survive on pure glucose so well (suggesting the possibility of a genetic link with meth addicts and junkies which should be explored in further medical studies), and since the American diet of ubiquitous corn syrup delivers such high concentrations of glucose in the cheapest of foods... I'm sure the quick witted and quick tongued cubanos will have saved up enough from the stores that they hanker after, just like Egyptians, that they'll soon be able to set up banks and begin competing with Wall St. and the IMF.

In no time, some paranoiac (probably associated with an ex Goldman Sachs official, like Lawrence Summers) will probably be publishing, anonymously, a treatise entitled something on the order of "The Pro'co's of Cu'a". Xenophobia will begin to run rampant and political pundits will be bemoaning the rate at which cubanos are buying up US real estate, and the quantities of US debt that they own— much like they're now doing over China, and like they were doing over Japan in the late '80s.

Obviously, at that point the silly experiment with communism— which has resulted in Cuba having a lower infant mortality rate than the US (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/GlobalHealth/story?id=1266515)— a humbling reminder of the foolishness of an experiment that the cu'anos have been planning, at 2.4 x human-normal speed, the end of for decades... will finally be brought to an end.

¡Jodeles a los bebés! ¡Que'mos nues'o dinero!

[joshcryer]

104. Better Believe It, here's the transcript:

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=7111