Re: [soac-mapo] Background info?

[Avri Doria <avri@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Thanks for the references. I think they are worth having.

I was especially interested to read in the OpenNet initiative what could 
constitute a basic list of what people mean by culturally sensitive materials

> 
> The UAE uses the SmartFilter filtering software to block nearly all 
> pornography, gambling, religious conversion, and illegal drugs sites tested. 
> The state also blocks access to all sites in the Israeli top-level domain. 
> ONI's testing of the UAE filtering regime also found blocking of sites on the 
> Bahai faith, Middle East-oriented gay and lesbian issues, and 
> English-language (though not Arabic-language) dating sites. 

> The topics most sensitive for the UAE are those the state views as offensive 
> to adherents of Islam. These include pornography, gambling, homosexuality, 
> and other cultural issues. Conversion of Muslims to other faiths is a 
> sensitive issue. Dating services that allow dating non-Muslims are also of 
> concern. Politically, terrorism is a focus, and the security forces monitor 
> extremist groups. Criticism of the government, Islam, or of UAE nationals are 
> also highly sensitive subjects.

> the "block page" - a Web page with text indicating that the requested content 
> cannot be accessed - from Etisalat's system states that Etisalat blocks 
> anything "inconsistent with the political, moral, and religious value of the 
> United Arab Emirates."



If ICANN is forced to meet such a standard, as opposed to leaving it up to UAE 
to do as it sees fit, we will be forcing a regime upon most of the world, that 
that world would find intolerable.

a.



On 26 Aug 2010, at 13:23, Evan Leibovitch wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> I'm not totally sure that the posting of background information or relevant 
> news stories here is welcomed or frowned upon, but to me it may help with the 
> discussion to know what is already happening.
> 
> By this I mean the existing practices of governments using Internet 
> infrastructure to block access to sites with objectionable content based on 
> names or IP addresses. For example there is this article from The Economist 
> on such blocking efforts in Russia and this report from the OpenNet 
> Initiative on a variety of blocking tactics in place in the United Arab 
> Emirates -- some of which block based on TLD.
> 
> Is it of value to this group to attempt to collect such information? To me, 
> we can't ignore what's already being done in the real world, and any efforts 
> we make will need to complement -- or at least recognize -- existing 
> practice. Trying to dismiss, ignore or regulate existing government action 
> seems pointless and indeed counter-productive. It's clear that measures by 
> national governments to filter/ban domains with objectionable content already 
> exist, and it's important to our efforts (IMO) to determine how our proposals 
> here will actually affect such efforts without doing damage to other policy 
> priorities.
> 
> Of course, if there is a consensus that such news items and background info 
> will not help, I'll stop sending them. I have no intention to be disruptive.
> 
> - Evan
>