[nycbug-talk] Crypto Anarchy

[Jonathan Stewart]

On 30.04.2013 18:33, Charles Sprickman wrote:
> On Apr 30, 2013, at 6:01 PM, Mark Saad wrote:
>
>> All
>> I was rereading Tim May's Crypto Anarchy manifesto 1. While still 
>> relevant today there are a few things that date his work and I wonder 
>> if anyone could comment on them. He mentions Ku-Band transmitters , I 
>> assume he is talking about satalite microwave based communication but 
>> what system , is there or was there some form of this available to 
>> common users or just governments ?
>
> In many parts of the world, satellite internet is common.  I can't
> speak to it directly, but I believe that in Iraq it's still quite
> common and I would guess that in somewhere like Iran, it's probably
> your only option for unfiltered internet.  It's expensive and I
> believe Ku is not the preferred band anymore.  Anyhow, a fascinating
> topic.
>
> Here's some dated pricing from the Amazon dude with a boat:
>
> http://blog.mvdirona.com/2009/06/21/RemoteDataCommunicationCosts.aspx
>
> And this site looks like it's from 1998, but seems to have somewhat
> current information:
>
> http://www.satsig.net/
>
> Lots of options in the Middle East:
>
> http://www.satsig.net/ivsat2.htm
>
> No pricing though…

I used/provided satellite internet service when I was deployed to Iraq
about 5 years ago. It was primarily used for access to college courses
and social media like Facebook that was blocked on the military 
networks.
It was 7k USD/quarter for IIRC 2mbit down and 512kbit up shared 20:1 on
the satellite. This was an "unlimited" link and the only limit on the
actual data transfer used was congestion on the link which made it 
quite
a bit more expensive than a 20 or 50GB/month limited link.

Jonathan

There are some messages buried in the list archives from me at the time
but I don't feel like digging them up right now.