TUNISIA HACKERS TAKE APART OLD REGIME CENSORSHIP MACHINE

       Before Tunisia toppled its dictator Ben Ali, the country’s internet was subject to complete censorship - all emanating out of an infamous villa. That same villa is now home to the Tunisian Internet Agency, which has renamed it Lab 404. Prior to the dictator’s fall it was called Ammar 404, a reference to the government’s censorship. The TIA, writes France 24 (FRA), has since given access of the censorship machine to local hackers. They are busy exploring and decoding the machines to see how the censorship was implemented, all towards ensuring that Tunisia’s Internet is not limited again. The regime also used more advanced systems to control online traffic and spent over $2.6 million in 2010 alone to monitor the Internet. But these are not yet available to the hackers, pending a contract with an unnamed technology company.