-Caveat Lector- > <Picture: Letters of protest and Press release><Picture> > > >Press Release - 9 August 1999 > > > > The twenty enemies of the Internet > > Forty-five countries restrict their citizens' access to the > internet - usually by forcing them to subscribe to a state-run > Internet Service Provider (ISP). Twenty of these countries may be > described as real enemies of this new means of communication. On > the pretext of protecting the public from "subversive ideas" or > defending "national security and unity", some governments totally > prevent their citizens from gaining access to the internet. > Others control a single ISP or even several, installing filters > blocking access to web sites regarded as unsuitable and sometimes > forcing users to officially register with the authorities. The > internet is a two-edged sword for authoritarian regimes. On the > one hand, it enables any citizen to enjoy an unprecedented degree > of freedom of speech and therefore constitutes a threat to the > government. On the other, however, the internet is a major factor > in economic growth, due in particular to online trade and the > exchange of technical and scientific information, which prompts > some of these governments to support its spread. The economic > argument seems to be winning the day in countries such as > Malaysia and Singapore, where controlling "dangerous" sites is > proving difficult for the authorities. Moreover, web surfers can > find ways round censorship: encoding, going through servers that > offer anonymity when consulting banned sites or sending email, > connecting via GSM telephones and cellphones, and so on. > Reporters Sans Fronti�res has selected 20 countries that it > regards as enemies of the internet because they control access > totally or partially, have censored web sites or taken action > against users. They are: the countries of Central Asia and the > Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, > Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, > Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, > Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam. > > Belarus > In line with its repressive attitude towards other media, > Alexander Lukashenka's government does not leave its citizens > free to explore the internet independently. Access is supplied by > a single ISP, Belpak, which belongs to the state. > > Burma > Censorship is total, due to a state monopoly on access. In > addition, a law passed in September 1996 obliges anyone who owns > a computer to declare it to the government. Those who fail to > comply may face up to 15 years in prison. > > Central Asia and the Caucasus > In most of these countries, the authorities control or restrict > internet access. In Tajikistan, a single ISP, Telecom > Technologies, owned by the government, offers web access - and > only in the capital, Dushanbe. Turkmenistan, a "black hole" where > information is concerned, offers even more restricted access. > Although there are privately owned ISPs in Uzbekistan and > Azerbaijan, their operations are controlled by the > telecommunications ministry, which is responsible for chastising > those who speak out against the government. In Kazakhstan, and to > a lesser extent in Kirghizia, the authorities demand > prohibitively expensive usage and connection fees from private > ISPs. > > China > Although internet use is spreading rapidly, the government is > trying to keep up pressure on users. They are closely monitored > and are supposed to register with the authorities. In January > 1999 a computer technician, Lin Hai, was sentenced to two years > in prison by a Shanghai court for giving the email addresses of > 30,000 Chinese subscribers to a dissident site that publishes an > online magazine from the United States. Meanwhile officials > fearing disturbances as the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen > massacre (4 June 1999) drew near ordered the closure of 300 > cybercaf�s in Shanghai, on the pretext that they did not have the > necessary authorisation. In order to prevent the Chinese from > finding information on the web, the authorities have blocked > access to some sites. This happened to the BBC in October 1998. > Zhang Weiguo, editor of the New Century Net (www.ncn.org) site, > in Chinese, launched in the United States in 1996, estimates that > it takes two months on average for the Chinese authorities to > track down the relay server of a site and block access to it. The > sites then change their address. Some censored pages are > distributed by email, like underground newspapers that are > photocopied and passed around secretly. > > Cuba > The government controls the internet, just as it does other > media. There is no free expression in Cuba at national level. > About ten independent - and illegal - news agencies such as > Cubanet and Cuba Free Press telephone reports to organisations > based in Miami which publish them on their web pages. But this > news is still the subject of repression: in October 1998, a > foreign ministry official filed a complaint for "insult" against > Mario Viera, of the independent agency Cuba Verdad, following > publication of an article criticising him on the US-based Cubanet > site. The journalist is still awaiting trial, and faces an > 18-month prison sentence if convicted. > > Iran > Censorship of the internet is identical to that affecting other > media and covers the same subjects: sexuality, religion, > criticism of the Islamic Republic, any mention of Israel, the > United States, and so on. Because of the filters put in place by > the authorities, access to some sites is banned: medical students > are denied access to web pages that deal with anatomy, for > instance. > > Iraq > People in Baghdad have no direct access to the internet. Web > sites of the official press and certains ministries are > maintained by servers based in Jordan. In any case, because of > the embargo very few people own computers. > > Libya > It is impossible to explore the web from Libya. The government > carefully keeps the population away from international > information networks with the aim of maintaining control of their > minds. > > North Korea > People in Pyongyang cannot access the internet. The government > deliberately prevents the population from seeing any news other > than its own propaganda. The few official sites aimed at > foreigners (the national news agency, newspapers and ministries) > are maintained by servers located in Japan. > > Saudi Arabia > Even though 37 private companies have been given permission to > operate as ISPs, all traffic at the moment goes through the > servers of the Science and Technology Centre, a public body, > which is equipped with filters banning access to sites that > provide "information contrary to Islamic values". The internet is > officially regarded as "a harmful force for westernising people's > minds". > > Sierra Leone > As part of their repression of the opposition press, the > authorities have also attacked an online newspaper. In June 1999, > two journalists from the daily The Independent Observer, Abdul > Rhaman Swaray and Jonathan Leigh, were arrested. They were > accused in particular of collaborating with the online newspaper > "Ninjas", which is published on a site based abroad > (www.sierra-leone.cc) by journalists who have gone into hiding. > > Sudan > Through Sudanet, the only ISP, the state controls the few > connections to the internet possible in this country where > freedom of expression is often suppressed. > > Syria > Internet access is officially banned to individuals. Offenders > may face a prison sentence, just as they may for "unauthorised" > contacts with foreigners. Only official organisations are allowed > access to the internet through the public telecommunications > authority, whose ISP maintains web sites for state newspapers, > the national news agency and a few ministries. > > Tunisia > The Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) controls the two privately > owned ISPs, which are in fact connected with the authorities: one > is run by President Ben Ali's daughter and the second by another > person close to the government. Their central servers control the > access of certain users. In November 1998, following publication > by Amnesty International of a report on human rights violations, > a web site with the address www.amnesty-tunisia.org, deliberately > designed to create confusion with the non-government > organisation, praised the president's work for human rights. The > director of the public relations agency that launched the site - > one of whose biggest customers is the Tunisian government - > claimed that he was merely coming to the country's defence. > Meanwhile, access to Amnesty International's official site was > blocked by the authorities. > > Vietnam > Anyone who wants to access the internet has to ask for permission > from the interior ministry and sign up with one of the two > state-owned ISPs. Access is blocked to sites maintained by > Vietnamese organisations based abroad and international human > rights organisations. On 9 June, the Police Ministry ordered the > post office to cancel the journalist Nguyen Dan Que's Internet > account, after this former political prisoner had released a > communique through the Internet calling for freedom a month > earlier. > > Recommendations > Reporters Sans Fronti�res calls on the governments of these 20 > countries to immediately: > > - abolish the state monopoly on internet access and, where > appropriate, stop controlling private ISPs, - cancel the > obligation for citizens to register with the government before > obtaining internet access, - abolish censorship through the use > of filters, and stop blocking access to certain sites maintained > by foreign servers, - protect the confidentiality of internet > exchanges, particularly by lifting controls on electronic mail, - > call off the legal proceedings undertaken against internet users > who have done no more than exercise their right to freedom of > expression. > > Reporters Sans Fronti�res calls on Burma, China, Cuba, > Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan to ratify and enforce the > International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 > of which stipulates that "everyone shall have the right (...) to > receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless > of frontiers (...)". > > The organisation also asks those states that have signed the > covenant (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, > Libya, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, > Tunisia and Vietnam) to respect the undertakings they made by > doing so. > > > > >For further information, please contact RSF. > > <Picture><Picture><Picture> >From http://www.rsf.fr/uk/alaune/ennemisweb.html Via antiwar.com A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 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