[governance] Fwd: [E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera transmissions, orders bureaus shut

Sun Jan 30 21:44:05 EST 2011

Thanks Lee, these were very interesting articles. It is interesting that
there were only two entities, Stock Exchange and the Banks that retained
Internet Access (I suppose civil servants have to get their pay somehow :) )

It is also interesting that there were other service providers that allowed
for access, even if it was restricted. I found Vodafone's comments
interesting as per that article where they quoted from an email from
Vodafone ie. they are obliged under Egyptian law to stop providing services
to select regions. I am trying to access Egyptian law regulating the
"event". Egyptian Judiciary and Legal System see:
http://www.infoprod.co.il/country/egypt2a.htm.

What I found to be interesting was how the Judiciary in Egypt does not have
the powers to review/amend or nullify an Administrative Decree so I suspect,
have yet to get a copy of the legal instrument that was used to force Telcos
and ISPs from providing communication services. I suppose this was why,
assuming that Vodafone etc in Egypt had to comply with the Administrative
Decree, suspending the service.

What will be interesting is when the Service Providers and consumers initate
class actions against the State before the Council of State. Then again, if
Egypt is in a State of Emergency then all these functions are probably
suspended so the ISPs and Telcos really had no choice I suppose between
having to disconnect and losing their licence?

Sala

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 3:07 PM, Lee W McKnight <lmcknigh at syr.edu> wrote:

> Sala,
>
> This CNBC story from Friday - and the comments on it - contrasts the
> infrastructure in Egypt with US....presuming no legislation for a
> presidential Internet 'kill-switch' is passed.
> http://www.cnbc.com/id/41311587
>
> My instant political analysis suggests it will be much harder to get a bill
> like that through Congress now, than absent the Egyptian uprising. So thanks
> Egypt!
>
> An alternate route out of Egypt, albeit expensive, is satellite Internet
> services. But in current crisis probably hard to get hands on a
> satphone...even if service provider is operating from another country, with
> signal receivable in Egypt.
>
>
> http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/218064/with_wired_internet_locked_egypt_looks_to_the_sky.html
>
> Lee
> ________________________________________
> From: Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro [salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 8:35 PM
> To: Lee W McKnight
> Cc: governance at lists.cpsr.org; Katitza Rodriguez
> Subject: Re: [governance] Fwd: [E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera
> transmissions, orders bureaus shut
>
> Thanks Lee.
>
> It will be interesting though to see the damages and loss to Egyptian
> businesses from the loss of service and the consequence of Service Level
> Agreements (SLAs) obligations and whether the loss and disruption of service
> will constitute a force majeur.
>
> I wonder what the ramifications are globally and whether the events of
> Egypt will cause alternative remote hosting outside their country's ISPs and
> whether in the future individuals can purchase bandwidth capacity outside
> their country's ISP or is this already happening or restricted to those who
> can afford it?
>
> Sala (Non- Techie)
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 2:29 PM, Lee W McKnight <lmcknigh at syr.edu<mailto:
> lmcknigh at syr.edu>> wrote:
> Sala,
>
> I doubt submarine cables were 'dismantled.'  No need.
>
> All the cables and satellite equipment is (I presume, from upstate NY)
> right where it always was.
>
> According to the reports I have seen, it was just that government
> authorities required all the companies operating it to - turn it off/cease
> transmission, as happened Friday for ISPs etc and now also for Al-Jazeera.
>
> Lee
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: governance-request at lists.cpsr.org<mailto:
> governance-request at lists.cpsr.org> [governance-request at lists.cpsr.org
> <mailto:governance-request at lists.cpsr.org>] On Behalf Of Salanieta T.
> Tamanikaiwaimaro [salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com<mailto:
> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>]
> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 7:27 PM
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org<mailto:governance at lists.cpsr.org>; Katitza
> Rodriguez
> Subject: Re: [governance] Fwd: [E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera
> transmissions, orders bureaus shut
>
> Thank you for this Katitza. Were the Submarine cables dismantled in Egypt,
> does anyone know?
>
> At least CNN is still transmitting, probably through satellite
> transmissions.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Sala
>
> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 12:10 PM, Katitza Rodriguez <katitza at eff.org
> <mailto:katitza at eff.org><mailto:katitza at eff.org<mailto:katitza at eff.org>>>
> wrote:
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:        [E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera transmissions, orders
> bureaus shut
> Date:   Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:08:06 -0800
> From:   Katitza Rodriguez <katitza at eff.org<mailto:katitza at eff.org
> >><mailto:katitza at eff.org<mailto:katitza at eff.org>>
> Reply-To:       katitza at eff.org<mailto:katitza at eff.org><mailto:
> katitza at eff.org<mailto:katitza at eff.org>>
> Organization:   EFF
> To:     EFF International <eff-intl at eff.org<mailto:eff-intl at eff.org
> >><mailto:eff-intl at eff.org<mailto:eff-intl at eff.org>>
>
>
>
> https://cpj.org//2011/01/egypt-blocks-al-jazeera-transmissions-orders-burea.php
> New York, January 30, 2011--Nilesat, the satellite transmission company
> owned by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union and other government
> agencies, has stopped transmitting the signal of Al-Jazeera's primary
> channel, the station and others reported today. The Committee to Protect
> Journalists condemns the actions of Egyptian authorities to disrupt media
> coverage by Al-Jazeera and calls on them to reverse the decision
> immediately.
> Shortly before 11 a.m., Al-Jazeera announced on the air that Anas al-Fiqi,
> information minister in the cabinet that was dismissed on Friday, had
> ordered the offices of all Al-Jazeera bureaus in Egypt shut down and the
> accreditation of all network journalists revoked. The official Middle East
> News Agency (MENA) reported that the order was to take effect on Sunday, and
> transmissions originating from Egypt ceased within an hour of the
> announcement. The discharged information minister ordered "the relevant
> government agencies to take the immediate legal measures necessary to revoke
> the licenses for live satellite transmission equipment (S.N.G.) and fiber
> optic cables or any other means of communication provided to Al-Jazeera,"
> MENA reported.
> "The shutting down of Al-Jazeera is a brazen violation of the fundamental
> right of Egyptians to receive information as their country is in turmoil,"
> said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North Africa program
> coordinator. "The international community should prevail upon President
> Mubarak to lift this censorship immediately."
> Today is the sixth day of massive street demonstrations in which citizens
> had been demanding political, social, and economic reforms, though
> demonstrators are now calling for the complete removal of Mubarak's
> three-decade-long regime. On Thursday, authorities suspended Internet and
> mobile phone service, according to news reports and mobile operators, in an
> effort to disrupt communications between protesters as well as transmission
> of news. On Saturday, mobile phone services were restored to a large degree,
> according to local journalists and press freedom advocates who spoke to CPJ.
> Internet connectivity, a vital resource for local journalists and those
> reporting from Egypt to the rest of the world, continues to be almost
> non-existent in Egypt, with more than 90 percent of connections to the wider
> Internet shut down. CPJ research indicates that this is a deliberate,
> coordinated result of Egyptian government orders to local Internet service
> providers. CPJ urges the government to rescind any such directives and order
> the restoration of Egypt's connections with the outside world.
> Both Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera English continued to report today on Egypt
> from other locations. CPJ research shows that viewers outside Egypt can now
> view the network's Arabic channel only on the Hotbird satellite or other
> satellites not controlled by Egyptian authorities. But at least two
> individuals in Egypt who spoke to the channel's anchor on air reported that
> they could not view the channel even on non-state satellites, an indication
> that authorities may be jamming those transmissions. As of 1 p.m. local
> time, Al-Jazeera English's broadcast remained on Nilesat. Al-Jazeera
> Mubasher, the network's live news channel, which had been transmitting live
> footage from Egypt's streets was taken off Nilesat on Thursday.
>
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