About a week ago in Nepal, I realised that I couldn't view Lauren's blog, except via an RSS reader. The reason was that Blogger had been blocked by the Nepalese government, or at least some sites with 'blogspot' in their URLs had come up on their new list of banned 'p0rn' sites, leading to a blanket ban on all our blogs with that domain name.
Weird and Funny World, a Nepal-based blog I've been following provided some coverage of this. Earlier there was also a suggestion that cybercafes in Nepal check their clients' ID in a bid to control 'cyber crime'.
India already does this sort of the control, though probably not on the same scale as China. At the cybercafes I've been to here, I'd had to present my passport (which some places photocopy) just so I can get online for 30 minutes. I am reminded of this level of control, because just to access the free wi-fi here at Delhi's new Indira Gandhi Airport domestic terminal, I had to log in with my new Airtel mobile number and then make a request to have another separate username and password via SMS (I remember a similar process at Bangalore airport last year) before finally being able to connect. Airtel also has a copy of my passport, visa and my photo, which you need to submit just to get a sim card.
Given that phones have been used in terrorist attacks to detonate bombs I suppose it's not an uncommon occurrence in most countries these days. You need some sort of ID to buy a prepaid mobile sim card in Singapore and Australia. I'm also sure there's some kind of registration to use Changi Airport's free wifi, though I suspect not quite as convoluted as the Indian system. I think I'm just too used to being able to connect to close to a dozen wi-fi networks in Kathmandu's Thamel district with just a network key.
Hmmm, my flight to Guwahati's been delayed by 40 minutes. More time on the internet for me.
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Cyber ID
According to this article from the Nepal-based blog 'Weird and Funny World', cybercafes here are supposed to now check clients' ID before allowing them to surf the net. This practice is something I'm quite familiar with from my time in China and India (at least in Kolkata).
None of the cybercafes I've visited over the past few days have asked for my ID, and it's pretty clear that the free wifi offered by most of the cafes in Thamel aren't too fussed about who uses their wifi, provided they can afford the prices - Or2K doesn't even have a password for its wifi network!
Considering that a compulsory helmet law for motorbike riders had to be withdrawn recently because it was too hard to enforce, I wonder if the 'ID requirement' at cybercafes will stick here. I'm also sure there are better ways to track 'cyber-criminals' on the web than to work out which cybercafes they frequent.
None of the cybercafes I've visited over the past few days have asked for my ID, and it's pretty clear that the free wifi offered by most of the cafes in Thamel aren't too fussed about who uses their wifi, provided they can afford the prices - Or2K doesn't even have a password for its wifi network!
Considering that a compulsory helmet law for motorbike riders had to be withdrawn recently because it was too hard to enforce, I wonder if the 'ID requirement' at cybercafes will stick here. I'm also sure there are better ways to track 'cyber-criminals' on the web than to work out which cybercafes they frequent.
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