Pakistan ICT Policy Monitors Network

PTA have ordered following six (6) URL’s to be blocked in Pakistani Cyberspace:

1. http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com/2008/11/08/governer-punjab-salman-tasee...
2. http://www. dictatorshipwatch.com/taseer/taseer.swf
3. http://www.makepakistanbetter.com/why_how_what_forum.asp?GroupID=5&Group...
4. http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com/2008/11/06/leaders-of-a-nation-half-of-...
5. http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/f137/governer-punjab-salman-taseer-hi...
6. http://www.buzzvines.com/node/3347

Attached with this message is the official notification by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, ordering the block of political websites displaying some content against H.E Mr. Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab.

Unfortunately, this time again, the block was covered under blocking blasphemous content. Extremely unfortunate and height of repression.

We condemn this hegemony by the authorities.

Was just trying to look at some of the recently blocked urls by PTA, which returned the webpage with following message. Screen shot is also attached:

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued directives in the last week of December to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), ordering them to block a list of six webpages on the grounds that they were “harmful for the integrity of the country.”

The directive came on the orders of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) for the Evaluation of Websites. The IMC constitutes representatives of the Ministry of IT, PTA, Ministry of Interior and Cabinet Division. Its charter is to monitor and block blasphemous, pornographic, and anti-state or anti-Pakistan sites.

Pakistani Bloggers Discussion Forum Launched
Posted by Teeth Maestro

Approximately two years back in 2006 we had initially launched a
discussion forum to help bloggers in Pakistan, initially it was well received and were able to manage for a few months but it disappeared into oblivion due to neglect and lack of interest. It was recently after the series of blogger meetups that we had in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad did many of us feel the need to revive a discussion forum where fellow Pakistani bloggers can collectively help each other to compete with the world at large and maybe place the Pakistani blogging community on the global blogosphere.

Received this information from the friends in Citizen Lab. For researchers in this field, this information is extremely important but with a high price tags. Kindly see if someone on the group can influence HEC or some other research institution with healthy funds to at least get a library copy, where some of us can use this info. Any ways, just if some of you wish to look at sample maps, these are really interesting and accessible here: http://www.telegeography.com/products/map_internet/index.php

America is losing its position at the centre of the internet, according to a new study. The survey by communications analysts TeleGeography Research, based in Washington DC, shows a rapid growth in internet capacity around the rest of the world over the past year - particularly in Latin America and Asia.

To visit the link at Guardian website click here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/08/internet-usa

The undersigned wish to express their deep concern that the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF), created by the World Summit on the Information Society in 2005 as an Internet ‘policy dialogue’ forum, is largely failing to address key public interest and policy issues in global Internet governance – including that of democratic deficit.

Who shapes the Internet, as the Internet shapes our new social context?

How do we ensure access to the internet is a human right enjoyed by everyone? This is one of the critical questions asked by an annual publication that highlights the importance of people’s access to information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure – and where and how countries are getting it right or wrong, and what can be done about it. Global Information Society Watch 2008 (or GISWatch), published in print and online by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the Third World Institute (ITeM), and Dutch development organisation Hivos, collects the perspectives of ICT academics, analysts, activists and civil society organisations from across the globe in over 50 reports.