Egypt's Net Ruled By Phone, Not Kill Switch 102
schliz writes "Judging by the time it took for Egypt to go offline and back online, the Internet Society speculates that the country's connectivity is controlled by a 'series of phone calls', rather than a 'kill switch'. The Government-imposed internet blackout lasted five days, beginning last Friday, and ending on Wednesday."
it's a figure of speech (Score:5, Insightful)
I think some people are imagining a light switch. Next to a red nuke button and a bat phone.
Re:Hardly matters... (Score:5, Insightful)
What it does mean is that the discussion about a kill-switch is moot. In most countries, only a handful of organizations run international backbones. Just about every country could take the net down in such a fashion.
A literal kill-switch might just work a bit faster.
Re:Long-term economic damage (Score:4, Insightful)
internet connectivity is the least of the worries of the companies with professionals in egypt right now.
the business implications from the internet drop are also minimal compared to the revolt in total, it's not like they could have worked anyways. economically that affect is also quite minimal when contrasted with the fact that cairo is pillaged and looting has been widespread and people are in a general strike, or would be if they had the option of going to work(those with jobs to begin with). "sorry I'm having trouble taking your call because bricks are being thrown at the window".