VOA慢速英语2011-- US Seeks ‘Shadow’ Internet, Mobile

Technology Report - US Seeks ‘Shadow’ Internet, Mobile Networks in Repressive Countries

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
The Obama administration is leading an effort to deploy¹ what some people call liberation technology in repressive countries. The New York Times reported last week that these efforts include "shadow" Internet and mobile phone systems. These are secret networks designed to operate independently of a government's control.
Dissidents in the Middle East, North Africa and other countries are increasingly using the Internet, social media and mobile phones. Some governments have taken steps to block or spy on their communications.
Officials in Egypt shut down Internet connections in February in a failed attempt to stop democracy protests. The Syrian government took similar action earlier this month.
The Obama administration is seeking to provide other ways for activists³ to communicate with less risk that they might be caught.
Ken² Berman is the director of information security at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the parent agency of Voice of America.
KEN BERMAN: "The State Department was looking to allow, I’ll say, cyber dissidents, cyber activists, to communicate among themselves and to do that in a restricted environment. They are looking at ways to set up, you might say, these independent networks.”
The New York Times reported that one of these projects is known as "Internet in a suitcase." The idea is to put equipment in a suitcase that could be secretly transported across a border. Then it could be used to quickly establish a wireless⁴ Internet connection over a wide area.
Another project seeks to avoid Taliban interference with cellphone networks in Afghanistan by using towers on American bases.
VOA has its own anti-censorship programs, led by Ken Berman.
KEN BERMAN: “So what we’re trying to do is give tools to allow people in countries that have hostile regimes to circumvent⁵, to go around, the blockage⁶ or the filtering that their own governments do.”
During a speech in February Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Internet freedom “one of the grand challenges of our time.” The State Department says its efforts are aimed at supporting free speech and human rights, not overthrowing⁷ governments.
Ken Berman says whether or not these two things can be separated is a source of continuing debate.
KEN BERMAN: “An educated population is what I think these tools strive for. Whether that will lead to government change, whether that will lead to internal reform, it depends on the country. There are so many dynamics⁸ in play in so many different countries, it’s hard to know what affect open information has.”
And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. We’ll have more on this story next week. We'll look at Iran’s plan to build its own national internet, disconnected from the rest of the world. Our programs are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

5 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

6 blockage   

n.障碍物；封锁

参考例句：

• The logical treatment is to remove this blockage.合理的治疗方法就是清除堵塞物。
• If the blockage worked,they could retreat with dignity.如果封锁发生作用，他们可以体面地撤退。

7 overthrowing   

v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止

参考例句：

• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship. 他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes. 我一向喜欢戳穿人家的诡计。 来自辞典例句

8 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。