Re: [soac-mapo] Background info?

[Stuart Lawley <stuart@xxxxxxxxxx>]

+1


Stuart Lawley

Via Wireless


On Aug 26, 2010, at 8:46 PM, Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 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
> >
> 
> 
>