The Autocrat-and-Mouse Censorship Game

[Commentary] The message to autocrats is clear: You can't block communications, or at least not for long. Technology moves too fast.

While censorship grows, the US is becoming less serious about ensuring a free Internet. The United Nations of Internet sounds like a really dumb idea. Autocrats will find it easier to limit access to politically undesirable content and make it harder, though not impossible, for citizens to bypass the censorship. Why would the US want to start another cat-and-mouse game? Private, parallel networks that are immune to censorship are being created out of a mesh of cheap Wi-Fi technology. These nodes, with about $100 of equipment, can be set up on rooftops around a city using solar power. Call it Wi-Fi without Borders. Or Packets of America. Whatever. Maybe practice on North Korea, and then Cuba. Show autocrats that the network is mightier than the sword.

[Kessler is a former hedge-fund manager]