The fragile web

The recent events in Iran and china have made it abundantly clear to me the the web is no where near as robust as we'd like to imagine. Governments still have the power to shut off access to certain sites, or to pull the plug all together. This is why I feel that we really need to push forward with mesh networking technology. Not only will it secure communication between individuals, but it increases the possibility that some one on that mesh might have internet access through a nearby nation where communications aren't as restricted. I know that mesh enabled cell phones and and massive continent spanning nets are still along way off, but there is already technology that can dramatically boost that signal.

And local mesh networks have uses far beyond reporting authoritarian crack downs, they could have the effect of creating real local connections, addign space to the web, and bringing communities closer together.