As I write this, television, radio and newspapers are filled with pictures and commentary on the events in Egypt, where much of the population has taken to the streets in protest against the country's President. In an attempt to block these protests, the government shut down the country's five Internet service providers so that the protesters could not contact each other via Facebook or Twitter. It may have had some effect, but not enough to stop the protests. Further, it was only several days ago, that similar protests in Tunisia forced their President to resign and the cabinet to be dissolved. There is still turmoil as a new government, satisfactory to the people, tries to form. While it is not clear how much influence the Internet had in these protests, I'm sure they did to some extent. I am also sure that the governments' feeble reactions are effectively in the electronic "dark ages".
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