‘Internet in a suitcase’ is a program reportedly developed or spearheaded by the US Department of State to provide Internet and mobile phone service to dissidents that can bypass government censorship or shut down of telecommunications[1] in countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Syria and Libya.[2] The plan reportedly involves utilizing common hardware components "into a package that could easily" be smuggled "into a repressive country and quickly assembled to deliver wireless service across a wide area to maintain crucial communications between legitimately protesting citizens".[1] Part of the operation includes a prototype “Internet in a suitcase” being developed by a "group of young entrepreneurs" led by Sascha Meinrath on a fifth-floor shop on L Street in Washington, financed with a $2 million from the State Department.[2] Other projects employ tools "that have already been created by hackers in a so-called liberation-technology movement sweeping the globe," and stealth wireless networks.[2]
Heidar Moslehi, the intelligence minister of Iran and Reza Taghipour, the telecommunications minister, have stated that the Iranian government has found a way to block the program, which they described as part of a “cultural invasion” by Iran’s enemies. During the anti-government protests following disputed June 2009 presidential elections, the Iranian government greatly slowed Internet connections and shut down cell phone services to block communication between protesters.[3]