Re: [soac-mapo] Background info?

[Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels@xxxxxxxxx>]

Avri: " 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."

+1

Carlton
==============================

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 12:42 PM, Avri Doria <avri@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> 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
> >
>
>
>