Mid-East Cable Cuts Now Affecting 85-Million -- Are Terrorists Involved?
Over the past few weeks, numerous undersea data cables providing data access to large portions over the Middle East have been severed. Five separate cable cuts have been detected since January 23, a rash of incidents that some have blamed on wayward fishing trawlers, while others are suspecting terrorism. Regardless of the cause, the scope of the damage is just now becoming known, with 85-million users said to be currently unable to connect to the Internet.
The outages are primarily impacting people from Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and India, countries that rely on the undersea cables for their connectivity to the rest of the world. Repairs are ongoing right now, but it's unclear just how long they'll take or when the region will be back online. And, since the cause of the cuts is still unknown, there's no guarantee that once they're fixed, it won't just happen again.
From BetaNews
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
erbritt @ Feb 7th 2008 11:51AM
Sounds like a GOD send since a lot of the out sourced jobs to India will not be able to communicate with the greedy American companies that out sourced the jobs over there.
Dan @ Feb 7th 2008 3:53PM
Im with erbritt, now maybe US companies will be forced to work with other US companies at least temporarily and they will see that the quality of the work they were getting over there is subpar to what you can get in the United States or Canada, etc.. That would be a nice change of pace. I for one, compete with these Pakistani "businesses" on a daily basis for work and they are always the first to throw a proposal out for around $50 for what a US company would charge around $500 for. But the problem is that 95% of the time, those same clients request a new proposal several months later after the communication breaks down or the Pakastani "company" couldnt provide what they promised in their proposal but ended up charging the client $300 for anyway. Then the client usually hires a US firm to complete the job for another $500 costing them $800 for what they could have simply done for $500 if they just hired the better company in the first place rather than the cheapest.
Paul B. @ Feb 7th 2008 5:48PM
Thank God for that !!! Maybe Al Qaieda is good for something after all.....That would be awesome if we could have all of our outsourced jobs back from India ! I say cut away !
richard @ Feb 7th 2008 11:36PM
this was posted on engadget lots of references very read worthy article
http://www.cyberspaceorbit.com/ConnectingTheDots.h ...
Basically it confirms a lot of previous articles that have made it to the front page
also this might be unrelated but it relates to the cables towards the end of the article
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/irans-oil-bo ...
Make sure to read the part about the petrodollar that itself might be the motive
also this article was thorough researched and also points to the iran oil bourse as the cause of the cable cuts
http://www.ilovebonnie.net/2008/02/06/submarine-ca ...
defintely read the last one easily explained in laymans terms
Daniel Gaunt @ Feb 8th 2008 4:08AM
Communication break down is never a good thing, ok I disagree with firms using over-seas employees because they can get away with paying them a fraction of whatthey'd have to pay employees at home (it's be ok if they paid them the same)but this leads to restiction of information and lets local groups control people more easily and influance their views. it also makes it harder for us to know what is going on in the places affected
http://freeextras.blogspot.com/
http://lifeorsomethingnotquitelikeit.blogspot.com/
shocked @ Feb 8th 2008 6:08AM
He that controls the oil controls the world?
HA......he that cuts off the internet has the advantage of ruling the world.
No communication and an entire country could fail miserably...including the USofA.
Keep that in mind.
Its nice to know that the power of communication can be cut off to a crucial part of the middle east.
It could have its advantages in the future.
I'm sure it wasn't an 'accident'.
justin @ Feb 8th 2008 6:23AM
I'm with erbitt too!!!
We (the Americans) should have done this ourselves
Sher @ Feb 8th 2008 7:06AM
How insane is this? We are now to believe, I guess, that "terrorists" ( you know, a band of nuts holding up in a cave in Afghanistan with a lap top or two) cut the cables. Uh-huh. Are you nuts? READ, study. this is propaganda bullcrap. Think about who REALLY stands to gain and has the technical ability to cut those cables, folks.
Sher
joni VA @ Feb 8th 2008 7:12AM
Sher......go ahead and keep denying that we are still under attack by these radical islamic terrorists...those who bury their head in the sand (like you)will never learn until a bomb explodes in your mall...
steve @ Feb 8th 2008 7:21AM
i think we can cut the cables across the Atlantic and the Pacific; there isn't anybody over there we need to talk to anyway not even the russan mail order brides
Ricky whitten @ Feb 8th 2008 8:14AM
BUSHLER!
Lillian @ Feb 8th 2008 8:20AM
Perhaps this is a trial run for the "big snip" that could be in the planning????
We may never find out who did this, but I am sure some one or some group of people will be taking a good look at what this incident does and perhaps starts thinking, "let's do it global" and see just what happens!!!!
It's worth a look at to assume terrorists, after all, look at what a standstill that would put just about everything that transpires every second of every day.
paul @ Feb 8th 2008 8:39AM
sure its terrorists ,and did the break really affect us, i dont think so.85 billion without internet and we are now just finding out about it
some people will write anything to get 15 seconds of glory IDIOTS
bobby joe trouble @ Feb 8th 2008 8:54AM
Doesn't make since that terrorists would cut thier own comm lines. Wake up folks and quit believing everything you read. Any company with a IT Dept. would have a back up plan. Only low level usuers would be affected. I think it would be hard to isolate one country much less half a dozen. China has been trying for years to isolate itself.
Gonzoman @ Feb 8th 2008 8:59AM
If you want to know what countries were affected by this, check the real-time reporting from internettrafficreport.com.
I don't think terrorists would cut the Internet for Iran, do you? Who has been threatening them lately?
Gonzoman @ Feb 8th 2008 9:01AM
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/asia.htm
Classic @ Feb 8th 2008 9:02AM
I don't see how terrorists would gain in cutting off there best means of communications to other terrorists to plan future attacks.Sounds like America would have more to gain here.Of course,..it could have just been a natural accident!lol.
elinore @ Feb 8th 2008 9:09AM
Gee, maybe they can use carrier pigeon.
duxsk8 @ Feb 8th 2008 9:10AM
Keeping manufactering jobs here in the US is a catch 22! Keep them here, and the price of the products goes way up!!! Try to keep them here and pay less won't happen!!
Classic @ Feb 8th 2008 9:18AM
Wait a minute...what was I thinking? Bush risk his billionaire Ceo buddies losing money by cutting off access to their outsourced customer service?! Never! ha-ha.We all know the main goal of his presidency has been to make his buddies richer,not fight terrorism,...at the expense of the middle-class.See where that got us..near recession.Doesn't he understand it's the middle class that really supports and fuels the american economy?