go: http://forum.projanmo.com/p24914.html#p24914
discussion going on here Omi Azad wrote: > Anyone know anything about this ? > > Crackdown on internet users in Bangladesh > An E-Bangladesh exclusive > > Thursday October 04 2007 17:22:07 PM BDT > > Fwd Muhammad Jan-E-Alam > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > RAB & Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) > pinpointing internet users with a fast connections. ISPs instructed to > reveal admin password, user data. "Traffic scanners" to monitor internet > users. BTRC memo leaked to E-Bangladesh. RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) > members assisted by BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory > Commission) officials are conducting house-to-house searches in Dhaka, > Chittagong and Sylhet pinpointing each and every internet user with a > fast connection. > > [An E-Bangladesh exclusive.] > > RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) members assisted by BTRC (Bangladesh > Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) officials are conducting > house-to-house searches in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet pinpointing each > and every internet user with a fast connection. In an unprecedented move > that clearly violates privacy rights and threatens freedom of speech and > communication, a special cell comprising RAB and BTRC officials are now > collecting user details � name, address, login and usage statistics � > from all the ISPs (Internet Service Provider) in order to profile more > than 450,000 internet subscribers in the country. > > Officials from different ISPs in Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong have > confirmed to E-Bangladesh that they were verbally instructed late > September by the authorities to: > Provide a list of all their subscribers with name, address and > connection details. Share the admin password of internet gateway > servers. Facilitate installation of "traffic scanners" provided by RAB > on gateway routers. > > A memo issued by BTRC that instructed ISPs to share/reveal sensitive > private data of internet users, business details and technical > information was leaked to E-Bangladesh. This memo, > BTRC/E&O/ISP-Gen.(302)/2007-1697 , issued on September 26, was signed by > Dilshat Ara Shela, Assistant Director Engineering & Operations, BTRC. It > instructed and advised 72 ISPs in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet: > To provide BTRC with details of bandwidth lease and usage. To provide > details of "corporate/dedicated/shared" clients: Name, address, IP. To > provide copies of technical agreements with connectivity providers. To > reveal individual client MRTG URL with user id and password. > > "ISPs must have complete information regarding the exact location of the > client," the memo advised. Failure to comply with BTRC demands may > result in closure of the ISP, it warned. > > A senior BTRC official, on condition of anonymity, claimed to > E-Bangladesh that BTRC is assisting RAB members in their crackdown on > illegal VOIP operators. He could not, however, explain why regular home > users are being targeted. > > In Dhaka, in the last week of September, a broadband user in a > residential area received, as he described to E-Bangladesh in an email, > "uninvited guests:" 5 plainclothes RAB men and 2 BTRC officials. > > They said they were looking for VOIP equipments� Clearly they saw I did > not have any of those. Still a RAB member was asking me questions and > taking notes, like, what I do in real life and internet etc� I doubted > if those people even knew anything about VOIP, they were checking my > computer� Even my MSN Messenger and Skype contact lists were checked� > How could I explain to someone who did not even know about voice chats? > > Similar reports of RAB visits to internet users in Chittagong and Sylhet > have been confirmed. One user in Sylhet expressed his frustration via email, > > Is it a crime, to have an internet connection? They were misbehaving > even when they wanted to check my computer. I was telling them I did not > do any VOIP business then why check my computer� No one is talking about > this. Now if my sister wants to use internet RAB will come and search > for her, what nonsense is this? > > [Translated from Bengali.] > > In another email, a System Administrator of one of the ISPs told > E-Bangladesh, > > If this continues then using internet in Bangladesh will become a crime > sometime soon. We have to shut down our business. These people [RAB] > enter our server rooms without permission and ask stupid questions and > misbehave. I was informed by my sources inside BTRC that these > house-to-house searches will intensify from next Thursday. If they go to > people's houses like this they will stop using internet out of fear. > > � > > If I have to reveal my admin password, user logins and passwords, what > kind of service am I going to provide? Where in world they have found > this formula? > > The ISP Association of Bangladesh � umbrella organization of internet > service providers � could not be contacted. BTRC officials declined to > issue any official explanation. Repeated attempts to contact RAB > headquarters in Dhaka for its version of the story failed.] > > > http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=172766 > > > > -- > Omi > http://omi.net.bd > > Bangla Computing Projects: http://ekushey.org > OSS News in Bangla: http://mukto.org > > >
