The Lawton Constitution 03/24/2014

March 25, 2014 2:39 pm /

DIVERSIONS 8A MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014
D
I
L
B
E
R
T
H
A
G
A
R
T
H
E
H

R
R
l
B
L
E
G
A
R
F
l
E
L
D
P
E
A
M
U
T
S
B
L

M
D
l
E
H
l

A
M
D

L

l
S
S
H

E
F
R
A
M
K

A
M
D

E
R
M
E
S
T
B
E
E
T
L
E

B
A
l
L
E
Y
C
U
R
T
l
S
Z
l
T
S
/NEW YOPK TMES

AP
Members of the Turkish Youth Union hold cartoons depicting Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan during a protest against a ban on Twitter Friday in Ankara, Turkey. Turkey's attempt to
block access to Twitter appeared to backfire on Friday with many tech-savvy users circumventing
the ban and suspicions growing that the prime minister was using court orders to suppress cor-
ruption allegations against him and his government.
NEW YORK (AP) Not long after
Turkeys prime minister imposed a ban
on Twitter, Internet users in Turkey
went on what else? Twitter to find
ways to circumvent the blockade. Twit-
ter Inc. and Turkish news media also
shared some tips, as did Turkish resi-
dents through low-tech means such as
graffiti and street posters.
The response to the ban shows why its
difficult for governments to control the
Internet. China and other countries no-
torious for censoring content have rou-
tinely faced efforts by citizens deter-
mined to bypass their controls. And in
Turkey, people were still tweeting on
Friday.
Heres a look at the ban and the ways
Turkish Internet users are circumvent-
ing it:
Q. Why is Turkey banning Twitter?
A. The ban came as Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to
rip out the roots of the social network.
His remarks came after links proliferat-
ed on Twitter to recordings that appear
to incriminate Erdogan and other offi-
cials in corruption. Uproar over the
recordings has damaged the govern-
ments reputation ahead of local elec-
tions this month.
Many people who tried to visit Twitter
on Friday got a blocking notice from
Turkeys telecommunications authority
that referred to four court orders.
Q. How is Twitter being blocked?
A. Internet access providers in the
country are redirecting Twitter traffic
to a website that contains the blocking
notice. It appears that Turkish Internet
providers are doing so by changing the
numeric Internet Protocol address asso-
ciated with Twitter.com.
Think of the domain name system as
an Internet phone book. When you type
in Twitter.com, your computer looks up
the numeric IP address for Twitters
website and takes you there. Its similar
to the way you can make calls on your
smartphone by looking up your friends
names rather than memorizing all the
phone numbers.
Turkish service providers can steer
you away from Twitters website by put-
ting an incorrect IP address for Twit-
ter.com in their domain name servers.
Q. How are people still tweeting in
Turkey?
A. Users can change the phone book
their computer uses. The domain name
system has multiple copies of these
phone books, all of which are supposed
to be identical. The Internet access
provider usually picks the one used, but
users can change settings on their ma-
chines to a different one. That way, Twit-
ter.com would pull up the real IP ad-
dress for Twitters website.
People also can use masking services
called proxies. A persons PC or mobile
device connects to the proxy, which uses
its own domain name servers to reach
out to Twitter on the users behalf. Turk-
ish access providers know only that the
user is reaching the proxy, not Twitter.
Instead of a proxy, people can also use
virtual private networks, the tools com-
mon for accessing secured corporate
networks from home. Just like proxies,
VPNs reach out to websites on users be-
half. Plenty of free VPNs exist.
Twitter can also be accessed by text
messaging. In fact, the reason tweets
are limited to 140 characters is to fit the
length constraints of texts. Twitter Inc.
posted on its Policy account instructions
on how to send tweets through texts.
The guidelines are in both English and
Turkish. Its possible to receive texts on
followed accounts as well, though users
must enable that one account at a time.
Keep in mind that this is a Twitter fea-
ture that wont work with other sites
that get blocked.
Users also might be able to turn to
Twitter aggregation services such as
HootSuite. Its similar to a proxy in that
the aggregation service is whats mak-
ing contact with Twitter. The users com-
puter looks up the IP address for that
service, not Twitter. Many of these serv-
ices let people both post and read
tweets.
Q. Whats the big deal about the ban if
it can be circumvented?
A. These circumvention techniques
arent easy for everyone to carry out.
Think of the last time you had to help a
tech-challenged friend or relative do
something relatively simple, such as at-
taching a photo to an email.
The government also might step up its
blocking efforts, as China does every
time a new hole pops up.
If people are using HootSuite, the IP
address for that website can be changed
as well. Proxies and VPNs can be
blocked, too. If changing the domain
name servers proves ineffective, there
are other ways to carry out a ban in-
cluding content filtering based on key-
words.
Andrew Przybylski, a researcher at
Oxford Internet Institute in Britain, said
Turkeys techniques so far appear rela-
tively primitive.
This is Round One of something that
could easily escalate, Przybylski said.
The domain name system is the easiest
to block, and then the easiest to get
around the block. Its more the mindset
here.
Turkey ban does
little to curb tweets
NEW YORK (AP) AT&T says it will
take orders for Samsungs new Galaxy
S5 smartphone starting Friday, while T-
Mobile will start on Monday.
Verizon, Sprint and others are also ex-
pected to carry the phone, though de-
tails have yet to be revealed.
Samsung has said the phone will start
shipping worldwide on April 11.
Announced last month at the Mobile
World Congress wireless show in
Barcelona, Spain, the S5 will have a 5.1-
inch screen, measured diagonally, and a
16-megapixel camera.
The S5 will also have a fingerprint
sensor to use in place of a passcode to
unlock the phone or make payments
through PayPal. And it will have a heart-
rate sensor to measure fitness activi-
ties.
AT&T says the phone will cost $200
with a two-year service agreement or
$650 without a contract. T-Mobile is
charging $660 under its installment
plan.
Samsung is the leading maker of cell-
phones, helped by the popularity of its
Galaxy line.
It is now pushing into the emerging
market for wearable devices. AT&T
says it will sell the Gear 2 smartwatch
for $299, a price comparable with the
original model last year.
Two devices with fewer features, the
Gear 2 Neo and the Gear Fit, will go for
$199 each.
All three devices offer fitness track-
ing and other features and will be avail-
able April 11 as well.
Samsung Electronics Co. didnt an-
nounce prices when it unveiled its new
products in February.
Samsung Galaxy S5 early
preorders start this week