[LM_NET] Creating a samizdat bloggers network using SMS text messaging

[Andy Carvin <acarvin@EDC.ORG>]

Hi everyone,

Given all the discussions surrounding educational blogs that have been 
blocked capriciously by Internet filters, I started thinked about what 
it would take to create the online equivalent of a "samizdat" network, 
similar to the system used by Soviet dissidents to disseminate banned 
documents. It's simple enough to take the content of a banned blog and 
recreate it elsewhere using RSS aggregators, but what if that new site 
gets banned as well? So, I came up with a fairly simple strategy to 
announce new URLs to large groups of people using SMS text messaging. 
Essentially, I'm combining the functionality of Google Groups and the 
SMS relay system Teleflip.com, so people can subscribe to a mailing list 
and receive brief messages via SMS rather than email. While the idea was 
borne out of educational censorship, there's no reason why the same 
technique couldn't be used to relay message during other situations, 
such as public emergencies, protests and the like.

For more info, please check out my blog:

http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/04/creating_a_samizdat.html

This particular method will only work in North America, but other SMS 
relays similar to Teleflip.com would theoretically work elsewhere.

thanks,
andy



-- 
------------------------------
Andy Carvin
acarvin (at) edc . org
andycarvin (at) yahoo . com

http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.andycarvin.com
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