[LINK] Vodaphone: the dictator made us do it

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Fri Feb 4 17:06:11 AEDT 2011


At 16:49 +1100 4/2/11, David Boxall wrote:
>Old news, I know, but according to
><https://www.accessnow.org/page/s/vodafone-bloody-handsets>:
>>  After shutting off its entire Egyptian internet connection for 5 
>>whole days, Vodafone (part owners of Verizon!) then sent its 28 
>>million Egyptian mobile customers a pro-dictator text message ...
>But of course
><http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110203/ap_on_hi_te/eu_egypt_cell_phones>:
>>  Egyptian authorities forced Vodafone to broadcast pro-government 
>>text messages during the protests that have rocked the country ...
>They were between a rock and a hard place, but couldn't they have said no?

To be fair:
(a)  it's very difficult not to be sympathetic towards someone with
      a gun at their head
(b)  this can apply to some forms of metaphorical 'gun pointing at head'
(c)  there's another way, e.g.

We have been instructed to transmit the following message by the 
[insert name of agency or person], and as a condition of 
re-commencing service we don't mind doing so:
<TEXT>

[Or did I blow the character-count limit?  (:-)}  ]

But Vodafone have been uniformly ham-fisted lately, prettymuch 
whatever they do.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University



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