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In Ukraine, Protesters Warned By Text Message

Posted on the 21 January 2014 by Paul Phillips @sparkingtheleft

Riot police block a street in KievIn the Ukraine, there are street battles occurring between the Government, whose policies are leaning toward Russia, and pro-EU protesters in the streets of Kiev.

But what is interesting in this article found in The Guardian, other than the obvious conflict, is that the Government have warned protesters with threats via a text message. A text message that stated “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass riot.” How revolutionary is that in regards to information technology?

According to interviews, the protesters are not being scared off by the texts. But it is so interesting that this is how a government now warns tech savvy citizens who are supposedly breaking the law with street protests.

And what is further is that the interior ministry and the two main telephone providers in the Ukraine deny issuing the SMS messages. But Kyivstar (a Ukrainian provider) states…

We know that there is equipment, so-called ‘pirate base stations’, which allow SMS distribution or calls to all mobile telephone numbers of all operators within a particular area. But, as an operator, we are unable to identify the activity of these stations.”

Read Here.

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