An Egyptian anti-government activist kisses a riot police officer following clashes in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Image by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP.

Shit’s going down in Egypt. Since January 25th, the streets of Cairo have been flooded with protesters demanding the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. For a clear and comprehensive overview of what’s been happening in Egypt these past several days, we recommend Nick Baumann and Siddhartha Mahanta’s post on the Mother Jones blog, titled What’s Happening in Egypt Explained.

One of the scariest elements of this situation has been the ease with which the Egyptian government was able to wipe out citizens’ access to information and communication nationwide. Last week, one by one, ISPs surrendered to the will of the state, depriving thousands of the Internet access that so many of us take for granted. And through Internet connectivity was restored for many Egyptians today, there remain concerns of surveillance. Eva Galperin writes on the EFF blog, “given the potential dangers, it is absolutely critical that Egyptian protesters take precautions when communicating online. To reiterate, social networking tools have given activists a powerful voice, which can be heard well beyond Egypt, but activists should also remember that the Egyptian government could use these same tools to identify and retaliate against them.” Phobos at the Tor Project blog adds, “we are concerned because it is possible that traffic crossing the Egyptian border is being recorded and possibly saved for future use. Correctly using Tor to and from Egyptian destinations will keep your traffic anonymous.”

The Tor Project, a system to enable online anonymity, has been crucial in aiding activists around the world. Thanks to this week’s fundraiser to help Tor fight the blackout in Egypt, Tor has begun experimenting with ways to improve performance over satellite and mesh networks as well as VSAT and BGAN connections. The results of this research, Tor reports, will “benefit those with little to no Internet access, whether due to political unrest, natural disasters, or remote locations, who nonetheless seek to keep their online activities safe.”

This week, we’ll be donating to support Tor’s efforts. We invite you to do the same. And there’s a way for you to contribute to Tor and receive something from us in return. We’ve just put up one rare, mint-condition copy of Issue 01 on Ebay. The original issue 01, typo on the cover and all. The highly NSFW version that was only sold on our site. Only 1,000 copies of this version were ever printed (an alternate version went to the stores), and we have a mere 10 left in stock for the rest of our lives. It will never be reprinted in its current form. 100% of the proceeds will go to Tor. (Also of interest: Zoetica’s own Tor auction for a tentacle-painted denim jacket.) Bidding starts at $15.00 (not to be confused with this vendor’s $119 auction for Issue 02 – that’s not us – we’re flattered and somewhat appalled). The auction is here. GO!

Posted by Coilhouse on February 2nd, 2011
Filed under Activism, Coilhouse, Politics, Technology