AUT: internet censorship e.g. (fwd)

["Harry M. Cleaver" <hmcleave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 18:20:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: MichaelP <papadop@xxxxxxxx>
To: mai-not@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: internet censorship e.g.

BBC   Wednesday, May 6, 1998 Published at 23:04 GMT 00:04 UK

   Surfing in the desert

   Internet access in Saudi Arabia will be strictly censored

   Saudi Arabia is to allow its citizens to have direct access to the
   Internet for the first time.

   The Saudi Royal Family has delayed legalising the Internet in the
   kingdom because of fears over allowing people to access what Muslims
   believe is offensive material.

   Saleh ibn Abdurahman al-Athel, the head of the King Abdul-Aziz City
   for Science and Technology, has announced that select local firms can
   tender to provide direct access.

   [ image: Saudi Arabia worries the microchip will allow corrupting
   material into the country]
  The Arab News daily quoted him saying they will receive
   tenders from companies interested in becoming Internet Service
   Providers between Saturday May 10 and Wednesday June 3.

   The science and technology city has set up a special unit which would
   "supervise the whole process of linking Saudi Arabia with the rest of
   the world through Internet services", he said.

   Access to the Internet in Saudi Arabia, where foreign publications are
   strictly controlled and censored, has been delayed by worries about
   material considered offensive.

   Internet access in other Gulf Arab countries is provided by state
   telecommunications monopolies through proxy servers that block
   politically, socially or culturally sensitive sites.

   [ image: Singapore is another country where Internet access is tightly
   regulated]
   Saudi Arabia has now completed a study on how to prevent
   objectionable material that is against the country's religious and
   moral values from entering the kingdom through the Internet.

   Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Fahd's and one of Saudi
   Arabia's wealthiest investors with a fortune estimated at $11bn, has
   recently expanded his Internet interests.

   Prince Alwaleed's portfolio includes stakes in Netscape Communications
   Corp, Apple Computer and Motorola.

   Last month one of Kingdom Holdings' technology companies, SilkiNet,
   signed a partnership deal with Kuwait-based communications firm ZakSat
   to provide regional satellite Internet services.

   "Efforts are ongoing to provide the best of modern technology, while
   ensuring that this does not conflict with the traditions and culture
   of the region," SilkiNet chairman Fouad Yashar said at the time.

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