There's A Secret, Illegal Internet

In repressive countries, resourceful citizens have found ways to smuggle online content and effectively create an underground "offline" Internet.

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[mariopalmero]

I'm Cuban and this video is 100% correct. For a short video, Linus did a great job summarizing our "underground internet" situation. I would love to see a longer and more in-depth video about Cubans' struggle with internet.

[BluePhoenixBR]

Here in Germany downloading copyrighted media/software is strictly forbidden. So my university network which ran not only in the university but also on the student accomodations had its own "secret" intranet portal where the students shared all the media they had. One could find pretty much anything there and download it super fast. Was a pretty clever workaround and I guess is still in use.

[BlackHoleForge]

We never called it offline internet, we called it sneakernet. It started with taking a floppy out of your computer and putting on your shoes and walking over to your friend's house.😂

[joseenriquediazramos]

As a cuban this is a very good summary of the situation. The one thing you didn't take into account is that most cubans can't even with internet subscribe to services since cuban banks because of the embargo are restricted. So even with internet access they will still need to watch pirated content.

[dshadow]

Never thought I'd ever hear Linus utter the word "doujinshi"
Also never thought he'd butcher it completely.

[coorbin]

Can you make more videos like this about recent tech history, and maybe make them a bit longer? I tire of the usual CPU reviews, but I love this kind of thought provoking content that provides a larger context about the digital world and how other people experience it.

[Platinum_XYZ]

the Havana Street Network part of the video really showed how modular and decentralized the internet is. along with what they mean by "anyone can add to the internet". I've connected routers before between rooms and buildings, but I've never considered that if you were to continue that process you'd be pretty much building out another internet.

also find it fascinating to see how that isolated internet began to develope its own web

[gankster]

Piracy used to be huge in India, I leave for a couple of years and come back - atleast among those I hang out with, there's no piracy anymore
Cheaper internet, rise of streaming, and this one is really important - region specific pricing on Steam have all contributed to this

[Oddlot]

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurdling down the highway" - Andrew S. Tennanbaum

[mauromerconchini]

Cuban viewer (who moved to the US): thanks for covering this subject :)
Never thought I'd see Linus discuss the shady methods that get used over there to keep up with US shows and movies. One thing that also gets spread around is bootleg videogames. I fondly remember being in elementary school and trading burnt DVDs and flash drives with friends and getting to experience games like the older GTAs or Serious Sam.

[joshuax]

I'm Dominican and it is crazy to think that there only is a 9% difference of Internet Access to Cuba! My Cuban friend had told me the hoops he had to take in order to get a connection (this was around 2019-2021). That 9% really seems to be significant since it is SO easy to get a connection in the DR!

[tylerthorn]

As a kid, I lived in a very rural town in upstate NY. We had satelite internet but it was super expensive and super slow. Had to beg my parents to drive 20-30 minutes to a family members house to do anything online.

[soundpixel]

I am from Cuba and I approve this message. (90% of the information is correct, some small details that a non-native could not understand)
I have memories of the Weekly Pack since 2007, but it was monthly at first, and only up to 256gb, which was the normal size of removable hard drives of the time.

😂😂😂 I laughed for 5 minutes when I heard the pronunciation of Linus for Paquete Semanal

I was a ¨Paquetero¨ for a while (the people that build the Weekly Package), and if anyone would like specific details on how it works, I can provide them.

[armen_kocharyan]

I love that Linus changes his shirt when talking about the sponsor, so we can easily skip it

[diegonieto]

As a Latinoamerican, Linus struggling to say "Paquete Semanal" fills my soul with joy lmao

[scaredyfish]

Whoever did the graphics for this one, I applaud your sense of humour.

Sputnik for satellite communications, Death of Stalin as Russian media, and The Wire as a comedy and so many nore. You’re doing great work!

[HeisenbergFam]

0:23 never thought I would see "its morbin time" and Linus say "dankest memes"

[little-wytch]

This reminds me of other "resistance" style communication networks, like pirate radio and "secret" numbers stations, some of which are still on the air if you know where to look. Think you'll ever do a video about the various forms and uses of amateur radio and how it can also be used as a slow internet with things like "sail mail" for boaters out at sea? With a laptop, a little bit of pre-downloaded software, a HakRF One, and a wire to use as an antenna (or just a wire to connect the RF1 to the mast's backstay lol), and bam, you got some signal and possibly some weak @$$ internet with a little work lol.

[InventorZahran]

This reminds me of that time when the Zetas Cartel secretly built a whole entire cellular network without the Mexican government noticing anything. It was eventually discovered and destroyed, but the network was incredibly extensive and complex for what it was.

[christinastein]

In Poland where I live up until 1996 or so there was no copyright laws so there have been perfectly legal market squares for pirated content like games and programs as well as computer hardware and knockoff Nintendo NES hardware with pirated cartridges. They were advertised on television when I was a kid. With piracy been outlawed those hot spots of nerd culture sadly died off shortly after but not because of copyright but mostly due to better and better Internet adoption.