# Compromising Connectivity Links: [[North Korea]], [[Networking]] ## Compromising Connectivity Report: Brainstorm Oct 25 2021 [[Compromising-Connectivity-Final-Report.pdf]] ### Would it be possible to transact in some sort of intranet? ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-25 at 9.48.03 AM.png]] A lot of people have access to mobile phones and computers, but very few of those are internet connected. Would it be possible to transact money without an internet connection? - Of course it's possible, it's called cash. Bitcoin's strength is not that it's a good substitute for cash... The core problem seems to be internet and connectivity - With the internet, people can work for e.g. Mechanical Turk - With the internet, people can access information about the outside world. ### How does one bring Internet into North Korea? - Flash drives / paquetes - Homespun networks from Chinese cell towers? Flash drives are a really sensible solution - They target the masses - the correct target audience. - One downside, however, is that they do not necessarily provide up-to-date information - Just because you gave a person a flash drive one time doesn't mean that they have up-to-date information about the rest of the world Ironically, one of the best ways to help North Koreans discover the outside world is to make the information **timely** - Just as the weekly paquetes make it possible to follow along with the latest episode of Game of Thrones every week, ideally there should be some sort of service to provide that - Anyone with the privilege to have an internet connection will be able to load up these pacquetes with the latest content and sell it on the streets - Could be a "I have a device, please load it up for me this week" kind of thing - Anyone with a [[Starlink]] terminal can then monetize it in this way. In addition to some sort of hotspot thing. How could we help? - We could make it really easy to create these pacquetes - Not that we're supporting torrenting... but maybe we host some website targeted at North Koreans with instructions on how to torrent things... and then also provide the magnet links... and then also run some seed nodes for the files that need it We are thus linked: - Us -> NKorean with internet access selling pacquetes -> Average NKoreans willing to pay for access to this weekly content ### Almost 100% of North Koreans have access to a TV ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-25 at 10.12.44 AM.png]] And many already have access to foreign broadcasts through their TV: "Approximately one-third (34 percent) of respondents reported watching foreign TV directly either from China or South Korea. As with all forms of foreign media, even when the device used to access foreign content was legal, precautions had to be taken to ensure safety." ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-25 at 10.14.48 AM.png]] Perhaps it would be possible to strengthen the signals of TV and radio broadcasts into North Korea? - But it seems that the people running those stations / services already have an interest in doing that, and **already** do that - " Unique among all sources of foreign media in North Korea, radio broadcasts are the only major sources of content produced with North Korean audiences in mind. A number of U.S.-sponsored broadcasts, South Korea-based NGO broadcasts, religious broadcasts and others produce hours of content specifically targeted to North Korean listeners daily. While qualitative research suggests that creating content that resonates with North Korean audiences can be difficult, for those in North Korea seeking to learn more about the outside, or get news about their own country that is not reported in the domestic media, foreign radio is likely their best and often their only option." - Doesn't seem like a good use of my (or HRF's) resources Radio continues to play a big role: >Shortwave and AM foreign radio broadcasts remain vital features of the North Korean information environment, especially when viewed from an ecosystem perspective, wherein radio functions as a directly accessible source of otherwise unavailable content. For all the ways in which North Koreans can now acquire, share and consume outside media content, foreign radio broadcasts remain the only source of nationally available, real-time, targeted news content available inside North Korea. Most North Koreans just listen to whatever lol > While qualitative research does confirm the existence of very sophisticated foreign radio consumers who tune in at specific times and frequencies to hear specific programming, it appears that the majority of foreign radio listeners are not purposeful about content selection. And also just discovered their channels by turning around the dial: ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-25 at 10.18.36 AM.png]]