crypto, surveillance, RF for uk bush burners

[Major Variola (ret.)]

Protest Is in the Airwaves on Eve of Bush UK Visit
Mon Nov 17,10:46 AM ET

By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - With President Bush (news - web sites) due to touch
down on British soil Tuesday, Internet message boards, mobile phones and
pagers are buzzing with the sounds of protest, and police are scrambling
to catch every word.


Since the 1999 World Trade Organization (news - web sites) riots in
Seattle, the protester's toolkit has gone noticeably high-tech,
embracing the latest Internet and mobile technologies for everything
from selling T-shirts for the cause to coordinating mass demonstrations.



Handheld gadgets, equipped with global positioning systems and Internet
access, are being used to mobilize groups quickly and catch police on
the hop.


"What you have now is the equivalent of battlefield soldiers. That's
what the technology has created," said a London-based telecommunications
security expert who advises law enforcement units.


British police have a special task force that follows how everyday
technologies are being used to plot mass demonstrations and avoid the
long arm of the law should violence break out.


Forces across Britain are preparing for anti-Bush protests this week
which are expected to attract more than 60,000 demonstrators, by combing
protest groups' Web sites and message boards for clues on their plans.


A number of anti-war organizations, including Stop the War, have been
openly detailing their plans for rallies and demonstrations. The group's
site, www.stopthewar.org.uk, is expected to reach a one-day peak of
23,000 visitors on Monday, said John Rees, a group co-founder.


The group has a small, but growing e-commerce business, selling various
items, such as "wanted" posters of Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair
(news - web sites) for one pound ($1.69) and leaflets at 1,000 for 10
pounds.


Rees said the group can reach thousands of people with a single e-mail
and via mobile phone text alerts. "With new technology, we've moved with
the times, not necessarily ahead of the times," he said.


The bigger concern for police are groups that operate underground. Some
use sophisticated encryption techniques favored by the military to
disguise the content of e-mail messages and Internet postings, the
security expert said.


But it is the sophistication of hand-held devices that have police on
the look-out.


Internet-enabled phones and gadgets are capable of sending and receiving
elaborate messages detailing meeting locations, maps and last-minute
instructions to fellow protesters in the streets.


The widespread use of picture phones is also a concern as the could be
used to capture images of the police officers.


"Some of these guys run counter-intelligence. They want to know who the
cops are. With a mobile phone that's equipped with a camera you could
start your own database of cops," he said. ($1=.5919 Pound)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=575&u=/nm/20031117/wr_nm/bush_britain_gadgets_dc_2&printer=1

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An RPG a day keeps the invaders away
or at least not re-electable