Skip to main content

Internet Users Face More Restrictions


A children computer user at internet cafe in downtown Yangon browses the online.

"I had to contact my friends abroad and ask them to open a G-mail account for me as I couldn’t do it over here," said a student at Dagon University.

She added that most Internet users have faced similar difficulties since March.

Yahoo and Hotmail are banned in the military-run country. G-mail can be accessed through proxy servers although it is also banned.

The Burmese military government is notorious for controlling the flow of information into and out of the country.

"Burma leads the dishonor roll," said the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a leading media watchdog, in its April report. CPJ named Burma as the worst violator of Internet freedom in the world.

Internet cafés which get caught helping customers open G-mail accounts by running bypass programs are to be closed down, said the owner of an Internet café in Mayangone Township in Rangoon.

"Our café only helps people we know when we are asked to open an email account," he said. "We don’t help strangers because we will be in trouble if the authorities find out."

The military regime has blocked the well-known Google research engine and its Google mail service since June 2006.

The regime has been constructing a "silicon valley," called Yadanabon Cyber City, in Maymyo in Mandalay Division since June 2006. According to state-run newspapers, the facility is intended to serve as the sole nationwide Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Burma.

One computer technician said, "the Cyber City will likely be used to control Internet users and the flow of information".

"The government is losing its cyber battle because of Google high technology, but it has kept trying to block access to popular e-mail services, including G-mail," he said, adding that the government can’t eradicate e-mail completely, but can slow it down and shut it down temporarily.

"It is believed that the junta is concentrating on Yadanabon Cyber City in preparation for controlling and monitoring the flow of information before the 2010 election," he added.

Burma currently has three ISPs : state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), which operates Myanmar Info-tech; semi-government-owned Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Net); and Hanthawaddy National Gateway.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy in September, a senior member of the Myanmar Computer Professionals Association said that Hanthawaddy National Gateway—Burma’s newest ISP, which was launched in July 2008—is expected to become the largest ISP in the country.

He said it receives technical assistance from Alcatel Shanghai Bell Company, which is represented in Burma by Tay Za, a wealthy tycoon and close associate of senior leaders of Burma’s military junta.

Hanthawaddy National Gateway is to be linked to the Yadanabon teleport in Mandalay and will provide access to subscribers in every state and division except Rangoon Division. It is currently only available to military officials, he said.

Src: Myanmar ISP
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zomi: Who They Are

Zomi Total population ca. 2,500,000 Languages Various Kuki , Mizo , Chin , Naga , Paite Religion Christianity , Animism , Buddhism , Laipian Related ethnic groups Naga , Meitei , Hmar , Mizo , Kuki Zomi [1] is the name of a major tribe found in various parts of South and South East Asia. The term Zomi meaning, Zo People [2] is derived from the generic name 'Zo', the progenitor of the Zomi. They are found in northwestern Myanmar, northeastern India and Bangladesh. Anthropologists classify them as Tibeto-Burman speaking member of the Mongoloid race. In the past they were little known by this racial nomenclature. They were known by the non-tribal plain peoples of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India as Chin, Kuki, or Lushai. Subsequently the British employed these terms to christen those 'wild hill tribes' living in the "un-admiral. They are Zomi not because they live in the highlands or hills, but are Zomi and call the...
2 comments
Read more

CHIN, ZOMI, MIZO, ZO cihtawh kisai Debate

CHIN, ZOMI, MIZO, ZO cih minvai tawh kisai India gam aom ih mipihte kikupna, Debate bawlna hi. Sausimsim in alunglut velvelte bekin atawpdong simzo bekding hi. This is the outcome of the debate about our nomenclatures like Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi on FaceBook – Zolengthe Group. The debate Vaphual shows that every one of us clearly know who we are – We are Zo, but some opined that Kuki nomenclature should be used as it is recognised nationaly and internationally. This is the starting point of the debate: Dear friends, MIZO=ZOMI, then is it something like both side of a coin? If it is so, then there is no chance of sitting under one administrative umbrella. Another Point: Mizo or Zomi ~ Which one should be the right word? I know You will say both. But according to Pu T. Gougin, Founder President of Zomi National Congress, “The land come first and then the people” therefore, it should be Zo… Mi….. that means Zo = Land and Mi = People. He further argued that MIZO is a wrong word; ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dr. Chin Do Kham Tangthu

Dr. Chin Do Kham Biography Education     Scholar in Residence for Ph.D. Educational Studies Program at Trinity International University, Chicago, USA, May 2003-August 2005.D., Intercultural Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School of Trinity International University, Chicago, 1998.Min.(Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership), Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK, 1994.Special Study Program at Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies, Israel, 1996. Educational Administrative and Teaching Experiences Adjunct Professor of Missions and Leadership at Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (MEGST), Myanmar since Fall 2008 to PresentAssociate Adjunct Professor of Graduate School of Theology at Global University, Springfield, MO, USA 1996-present.Professor and Director of M.A. Missions Program and taught Leadership and Missions courses for M.A./M.Div./D.Min. courses at Oral Roberts University (2006-2008)Dean of Students and Professor of Missions/Leadership at Asia Pacific T...
Post a Comment
Read more