Livejournal ban in some countries

[benladesh]

Wow. I am utterly shocked. I'm on vacation in Dubai and I've been trying to access Livejournal for a while now. Turns out the country has set up a firewall on their connection which blocks livejournal. Whats the point of having internet if you can't use it 0.o I also read that they wanted to ban all messanger programs.

I can understand that the people here are very religious and that if they read an LJ it could be offencive. But there are so many tourists here. Everyone has got different religious oppinions. I think that if they were offended by something on an LJ, they were most probably searching for it.

Its got me pretty enraged that I cannot update my journal while on vacation. I promised my friends I would update it with pictures and now I can't.


for info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etisalat

ctrl+f "tcp" and you will find what I am talking about


Edit: perhaps I should have put this in the debate board. Hmm if so a mod please move this?

[Alex]

...

Banning LiveJournal? Dear god, that's pathetic.

[Combusken BG]

What Alex said.

Why would anyone what to ban a place where people let their thoughts out and let people know what has been happening to them?

I don't see what is wrong with a online journal service with an emphasis on user interaction.

[Kitten Medli]

I don't use LJ, but I don't have much of a comment, but for the messengers, what about people who talk to their friends on them?

And hey, why not ban porn instead?

[Kugetsu]

Eh, their country, their rules. Who is anyone else to question them?

[benladesh]

Aim is not working. They cut that out.

I get what you mean Kuge. Its just that the majority of the people here are from outside. More and more people come to live here. I just think it is limiting peoples rights to do what they want.

Pornographic websites are blocked off.

[Pixa]

Eh, their country, their rules. Who is anyone else to question them?

So the affairs of one country should not be the concern to the rest of the world?

[Kugetsu]

Eh, their country, their rules. Who is anyone else to question them?

So the affairs of one country should not be the concern to the rest of the world?

If you're trying to make a point, you're not. That statement is so broad that it's has no substance. You're ignoring things on a smaller scale and trying to play them out as they would if they were actually harmful to people, which I can assure you, this is not.

On a larger scale? Well, duh, if people are actually being harmed then there's need for others to get involved. If it's something like this which is nothing more than a minor inconvenience, then you're silly to think that other countries should have the right to change that.

I understand that it's bothersome to Ben and other tourists, but perhaps there was a way to figure this out before going there? BTW, how long are you there for, Ben?

Last edited by Kugetsu on Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[theonlysaneone]

What Alex said.

Why would anyone what to ban a place where people let their thoughts out and let people know what has been happening to them?

I don't see what is wrong with a online journal service with an emphasis on user interaction.

That's exactly the point. It may not be an issue in the United Arab Emirates, but in some parts of the world, they DON'T want people to know what is going on, so they set up filters on the Internet. They do it in China, Iran, pretty much everywhere there is a dictator set up.

I don't know why they do it in Dubai, though. Maybe it's so that women have trouble communicating out?

[Tymaporer]

A whole country? O_o If it were a school or something, I suppose it would make a slight amount of sense, but that's just stupid. I mean, it's not even really "offensive". It's pretty much a personal expression site (so does that mean the ban counts as censorship?), and while some people's journals would be rated higher than others (as in movie ratings, like PG-13 and all that), it's not actually mandatory to add anyone to your friends list, so people don't have to see anything they don't want to.

And then, of course, there's the people who do want to use the site...

O_o

[Ange]

Well, China does block Wikipedia...makes sense if we follow the trend of those governments.

[Yoshi]

Read this news story and try this, perhaps.

Legal? Not legal? I'm not sure. But it's been in the news so much that I'm inclined to post it here anyway.

[Ric]

Well, China does block Wikipedia...makes sense if we follow the trend of those governments.

Not just Wikipedia, there are so many common-use sites the government just blocks. For no particular reason. The school I went to in China had it's own website, used to host email adresses and the likes, was blocked for a few weeks.

From the above posted article:

China, for example, rigorously blocks access to information on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, as well as to other politically sensitive sites, with what's been dubbed the Great Firewall.

They've even whited-out parts of various travel guides sold in China (particularlly Lonely Planet).

[sily_sicily]

Yup. China blocks many websites.
But there's a way to "go around" the firewall. I don't know the way, but my schoolmate's father knows. He lives in China and is able to "go around" the firewall to access to some banned websites.
So...you have 2 choices. Either go figure out how to do it yourself, or ask him. XD

Eh, their country, their rules. Who is anyone else to question them?

Agreed.

For no particular reason.

Nope. For particular reason. Don't want to mention it here though.

[Mongrel]

And hey, why not ban porn instead?

*shocked*
The internet is for porn!
Why you think the 'Net was born?
Porn, porn, porn.