The Gaping Holes In the UAE's Net Firewall 107
Barence writes "The United Arab Emirates has its own Chinese-style firewall to weed out pornography and other 'unsavory' content. But as PC Pro's correspondent has found out, the firewall has more than a few holes in it. ISP helplines routinely suggest proxy server software that circumvents the filters. Access to Flickr is blocked, in case citizens' eyes should fall upon a naked buttock, but The Pirate Bay, which 'offers a range of bottoms to suit every need, including midget and donkey bottoms for anybody having a really slow afternoon – remains blissfully undisturbed.' 'Ultimately, I'm quite glad the UAE's authorities block websites, and thrilled that they're so inept at it,' concludes PC Pro's writer. 'Just like everybody in Dubai, all they've done is made me a master of internet chicanery.'" Guess that depends how closely they're watching the evaders.
I noticed the same effect (Score:5, Interesting)
it is to be expected (Score:5, Interesting)
10 years ago, i was flying from london to sri lanka via jordan airport.
I had a DJ magazine with me for a DJ friend in sri lanka, and lacking anything to read on the flight, i had it in my hand.
the guy at immigration saw the magazine in my bag and wanted to take a look. i knew what was going on, and i also knew that hte magazine didn't have anything they could even REMOTELY consider "lascivious" so i let him have it.
he leafed through a few pages and asked me (with great disappointment) "no mwah mwah mwah?" while kissing his hand.
i had a hard time NOT telling him that i was an IT geek, and we can get our "mwah mwah mwah" from the internet.
the point i am trying to make is that when you try to suppress a biological impulse, nay NECESSITY, people will find a way to get access to it.
they are trying to implement a pornwall in sri lanka as well. a year ago the government blocked ELEVEN sites. now they want to block a hundred. I know the guys in charge of the pornwall. I know their abilities. i know at least two of them are in a porn mailing list that has been in existence in one form or the other since 1998
i would REALLY doubt it was incompetence on the part of the people running the firewall. that is created to make the politicians and the religious extremists feel better.
if the IT guys wanted to take down a site, they would, but most of them really don't want to, and really don't care. as far as they are concerned, they are doing their jobs, but when it comes to things like this "their job" is the bare minimum they are forced to do.
Re:Legal maneuvers (Score:4, Interesting)
Having been to a few church weddings recently, it's apparent from the talk that marriage is just a way for religion to maintain control over something. And what better way than to control people than through the nookie supply? You get your nookie assigned to you through church or not at all. So it sort of stands to reason than religious groups are against prostitution or promiscuity or even just loose women... it pretty much cuts into their turf.
As a christian I can tell you that this is just plain wrong. (And people think we're nuts. :-/ ) Spiritual aspects aside, promoting monogamy and marriage is meant entirely as a way to maintain the health of both the people involved and the society in general. It's no different that suggesting that people not kill each other if you want to have a mentally and physically healthy society. If people get married and only have sex with this one person, all sorts of problems that plague society and individual people simply go away.
Simple explanation: middle-eastern hypocrisy (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't underestimate the degree of blatant hypocrisy in play here. Drinking and extramarital sex are absolutely forbidden in middle-eastern culture, which just makes them all the more attractive. Repress something, and all you do is drive it underground. Since the middle-east tries to repress everything, well...
Take Bahrain as an example. While Bahrain is pleasant enough, they are connected by a bridge to Saudia Arabia. When the weekend (Thursday) rolls around, the bridge is jammed with Saudi Arabians coming to to party [wsj.com] - getting smashed and getting laid - which they can't get away with at home.
Of course there are holes in the firewall - how else can the upper classes get their porn?
Re:Legal maneuvers (Score:1, Interesting)
The marriage license was originally instated in order to prevent mixed-race marriages. Now it is a means of involving the state in your affairs, specifically maintaining ownership of progeny. The marriage license makes the relationship a three way one that includes the state. A license, by definition, is permission to do that which would otherwise be illegal.
Fact is, the family bible still stands as legal documentation of birth and marriage with no need for a third party state. Birth Certificates and Marriage Licenses are just binding contracts with the state. Your choice.
Re:Legal maneuvers (Score:2, Interesting)
If you think churches/religions don't control what the state considers marriage, you're not paying enough attention.
Re:it is to be expected (Score:1, Interesting)
Thats fairly true.
I live in Kuwait, which has similar laws/firewalls. For the most part, the ISP's block porn sites because the government authorities asked them to, but do a bare-minimum job in setting up the firewall. I actually know a few people in the ISPs of kuwait that did the censoring. They basically don't implement any blocking of sites unless the government gives them a list of things to block and do a crappy job at it. I've known how to look for and use proxy servers ever since I was 14. It's really not that hard. I'm surprised the author of that article went out of his way and actually paid for a service.
Porn in the gulf region is basically like marijuana in the US. Its technically illegal, but no one really cares. The firewall is crappy because no one actually wants stuff blocked except for 70 year old politicians who probably don't know any better about the internet.