Egypt: Ban on On-line Porn

[~Zaria~]

Porn ban unrealistic and worrying, experts say

Fri, 09/11/2012 - 22:11

On Wednesday, the general prosecutor ordered the relevant authorities to enforce a court ruling banning pornographic websites that was issued in 2009.

Many experts predict that it is unlikely the government has the technological capabilities to carry this out, but they warn that the prosecutors’ move is a dangerous step towards increasing government censorship.

The prosecutor’s move is based on a verdict issued by the administrative court in 2009 that obliges the minister of telecommunication and the head of the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to ban pornographic websites on the Internet for Egyptian users.

“The problem is that the philosophy of those holding posts in the state hasn’t changed since before the revolution, they see the state as a parent and a guardian for society that can monitor and decide for the people, as if the people were minors unable to make their own decisions,” said Ramy Raouf, a human rights activist who specializes in information and communication technology.

The verdict was based on articles in the constitution saying that the state is responsible for upholding the character of the Egyptian family and to protect the traditions of society, and to encourage observation of religious, moral and national values.

The reasoning for the 2009 verdict, which is a result of a case filed against the minister of telecommunication and the head of the NTRA for not blocking pornographic sites states:

“It was proven that there are pornographic websites on the internet that secrete their poison and propagate vice within the Egyptian society which destroys all the well-founded religious beliefs and moral values in society," the verdict read.

"Refraining from blocking these sites destroys these values and can not be considered within the barriers of freedom of expression because what's shown on these sites is the boldest type of breaching of the higher interests of the state, and the social national security, that's why the administrative body had to take all necessary measures to block these sites from the Egyptian citizen.”

The new ban has raised concerns regarding similar articles in the draft constitution, which has been criticized for being too vague and allowing for the violation of freedom of expression under the pretext of protecting social values.

“The whole policy needs to be reformed, the state should provide service and not choose for the people,” said Raouf.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) also issued a statement criticizing the law.

In order to block the websites, the NTRA would first have to distinguish the pornographic websites, and then demand Internet providers, who are forced by law to abide, to block them.

EIPR says that by issuing a verdict to ban all pornographic sites, the court ruling gives the executive bodies the authority to decide what constitutes pornographic sites, a power that only the judicial body should hold, the statement says.

“Courts shouldn’t issue a mass verdict, they should look into the details of every case on its own,” the statement said, adding that the court should issue separate verdicts for every website after viewing its content and forming an opinion on it.

The decision has also provoked a series of sarcastic comments on social media mocking the government’s priorities and criticizing it for focusing on banning porn instead of offering sustainable solutions for poverty, illiteracy and other more urgent problems.

One page on Facebook titled “the pornographic pictures forum” posts a picture of a citizen picking food from the trash with the caption: they’re banning pornographic websites and leaving us in the pornographic reality.

Freedom of information aside, experts argue that the move will be costly and ineffective.

In a television appearance following the prosecutor’s decision, the head of the NTRC Amr Badawy said that the court order is technically difficult to carry out.

Badawy said that the NTRA has already instructed internet providers to block the sites but that the process is difficult because the names of the pornographic websites change constantly. He added that the process would cost tens of millions of pounds and that other countries have tried and failed to do it.

Raouf agrees that creating a virtual pornography-free environment in Egypt would be nearly impossible.

It would require constant government monitoring of an endless number of websites, an operation needing massive human resources and a huge budget.

Even then, Raouf said, the blocking could be easily reversed in court.

“Just like there are tools for censorship, there are also tools to reverse it,” said Raouf.

Raouf also believes that the ban would be a breach of the privacy of Internet users because of the constant monitoring. He said it would also damage the prospects of e-commerce in Egypt.

Hafez Abou Saeda, head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, said that if the verdict proves to be harmful to the internet services in Egypt or if the companies argue that they’re unable to execute it, there’s a chance that it will not be carried out.

In its press release, EIPR said that while sexual content online is a problem, parental rather than governmental monitoring should be exercised to confront it.

EIPR suggests that Internet providers should offer software to block pornographic sites and offer the users the option to use it or not.

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news...ng-experts-say

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^ Is a ban on internet porn actually implementable?

May Allah make this possible in Egypt as well as across all parts of the world.
Ya ربّ العالمين
Ameen

[Cabdullahi]

Porn ban unrealistic and worrying, experts say


[/CENTER]
^ Is a ban on internet porn actually implementable?

May Allah make this possible in Egypt as well as across all parts of the world.
Ya ربّ العالمين
Ameen

It is implementable, however most internet geeks can get around the ban.

Websites can be banned at the application layer, or even better, they can be blocked at the network layer.

You can get around the block by using VPN's (Virtual Private network), or via the use of proxies.


Alhamdulilah this is good news for the youth of egypt.

[GuestFellow]

GO EGYPT! *JUMPS UP AND DOWN WITH POM POMS* 2,4,6,8 WHO DO WE ANNIHILATE!

Actually this is a good step. This will employ many Egyptians. Some people say porn reduces crime rate. I do agree, porn does reduce sexual offences however only temporarily. Some users get bored and want more hardcore porn, leading to child pornography. Some may want violent porn, get bored and may want to carry it out in real life. I don't think we have seen the full negative impact that porn can do.

[Muezzin]

If everyone follows Islam properly, nobody will search for this stuff on the Internet in the first place.

Anyway, I don't know how they will enforce this ban.

[CosmicPathos]

if women want to be a visible force in workplace where men have to be (per Islam as they are maintainers), watching porn is inevitable, sooner or later, especially when these men's jobs have been overtaken by women, and as a result of that they cannot even marry. Women do not get to do rickshaw driving or donkey cart driving in Pakistan, men do. More men are killing theri families and committing susicide afterwards because they do not have jobs anymore which they once used to do because apparently a more qualified woman has taken his place.

There are more women family physicians working in Canada today than men. Male family physicians are more unemployed than female family physicians. Google, read the stats up.

[LauraS]

if women want to be a visible force in workplace where men have to be (per Islam as they are maintainers), watching porn is inevitable, sooner or later, especially when these men's jobs have been overtaken by women, and as a result of that they cannot even marry. Women do not get to do rickshaw driving or donkey cart driving in Pakistan, men do. More men are killing theri families and committing susicide afterwards because they do not have jobs anymore which they once used to do because apparently a more qualified woman has taken his place.

There are more women family physicians working in Canada today than men. Male family physicians are more unemployed than female family physicians. Google, read the stats up.

How to respond to this?:crickey::bravo:

So men watch porn because there are women in the workplace? How selfish of women to want a career when it has such strange consequences!

And women are taking the jobs of men in Pakistan which makes men kill their families?? - What has that to do with the original topic and....what do you suggest as the solution? Women not to work?

[GuestFellow]

if women want to be a visible force in workplace where men have to be (per Islam as they are maintainers), watching porn is inevitable, sooner or later, especially when these men's jobs have been overtaken by women, and as a result of that they cannot even marry. Women do not get to do rickshaw driving or donkey cart driving in Pakistan, men do. More men are killing theri families and committing susicide afterwards because they do not have jobs anymore which they once used to do because apparently a more qualified woman has taken his place.

There are more women family physicians working in Canada today than men. Male family physicians are more unemployed than female family physicians. Google, read the stats up.

I don't really understand this. People watch porn because they have sexual urges.

[GuestFellow]

what do you suggest as the solution?

CANDY!!!

[Networks]

If everyone follows Islam properly, nobody will search for this stuff on the Internet in the first place.

Anyway, I don't know how they will enforce this ban.

Short and simple!

[ardianto]

Egypt want to ban on-line porn ..... ????

I thought they have done it.

Okay, look the picture below. This is what would appear on your monitor if you visit porn website through Indonesian internet providers.



Not only porn, but Indonesian govt also block websites which contain:
- Gambling
- Phising/Malware
- SARA (attacking on ethnic, religion, race, community)[*]
- Proxy

But actually not every website which contains those prohibited contents can be banned. The problem is, we don't know if a website contains porn or not if we don't visit this website, and govt don't have enough personels to visit every website one by one. They just wait report from internet users.

Unfortunately, there are internets users who when they find porn site, instead of report it to govt, they enjoy it. And also there are many programs that allow the user to 'move' instantly and use other countries IP.

But at least Indonesian govt have done something to save people morality.
[*]In case of "Innocent of Muslim" movie, Indonesian govt did not ban Youtube, but 'asked' Youtube to block this movie for Indonesian internet users, and Youtube granted this request.


Will censorship toward on-line porn increase govt censorship toward people?.

Back to Indonesia again. Indonesian Govt is strict toward porn, but they allow people to protest and criticize government.

Actually, censorship toward porn will increase govt censorship or not is depend on who behind this censorship policy.

[Ali_008]

if women want to be a visible force in workplace where men have to be (per Islam as they are maintainers), watching porn is inevitable, sooner or later, especially when these men's jobs have been overtaken by women, and as a result of that they cannot even marry. Women do not get to do rickshaw driving or donkey cart driving in Pakistan, men do. More men are killing theri families and committing susicide afterwards because they do not have jobs anymore which they once used to do because apparently a more qualified woman has taken his place.

There are more women family physicians working in Canada today than men. Male family physicians are more unemployed than female family physicians. Google, read the stats up.

I don't understand the logic behind this argument, but I'd say that there are enough opportunities for both men and women. The world has a huge number of problems, and if we start working on all of them then there will be a deficit of employees rather than a surplus. Unemployment is even a part of the society not because there is lack of work, but because people are not willing to invest in the other problems due to less profitability.

[ardianto]

It is implementable, however most internet geeks can get around the ban.

Websites can be banned at the application layer, or even better, they can be blocked at the network layer.

You can get around the block by using VPN's (Virtual Private network), or via the use of proxies.


Alhamdulilah this is good news for the youth of egypt.

To be honest, few times I visited IB through US or UK, but I did not log-in because I didn't want IB admins interrogate me due to my 'unusual' IP.

I did it because I wanted to know about advertisment that appear in front of IB visitor in UK or US. Yes, VPN and proxy can be used to break "national porn blockade", but it's depend on mentality of the user itself.

[ardianto]

So men watch porn because there are women in the workplace?

From what I've seen in Indonesia, presence of women in office can prevent men watch porn in office.

[GuestFellow]

^ Ah wouldn't office workers get sacked for watching porn?

[ardianto]

^ Ah wouldn't office workers get sacked for watching porn?

Workers could get sacked if they watch porn in office.

But I think what CosmicPathos mean was, if women enter workplace, the men would lost their jobs. Then the men get frustrated and as an escape they watch porn.

[Abz2000]

If everyone follows Islam properly, nobody will search for this stuff on the Internet in the first place.

i disagree, it is a duty of those charged with authority in Islam to stem the causes of fitnah,
and graphic prostitution is illegal in Islam - actually any sort of prostitution is.
it is not enough to say - don't go to prostitutes, but we wont prevent prostitution from operating in the locality.

the youth especially are not to be expected to fully comprehend the wisdom behind this ban and not everyone's iman is bulletproof.

The Prophet (pbuh) did not just say "don't worship idols", he sent detachments to go break the idols.

And fight them on until there is no more FITNAH, and there prevail justice and faith in God;
but if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression.
Quran 2:193

[CosmicPathos]

but I'd say that there are enough opportunities for both men and women.

you are impressively ignorant of economics and limited resources management then.

[CosmicPathos]

I don't really understand this. People watch porn because they have sexual urges.

that is exactly what i said. men go to work of whatever **** is left for them (donkey cart driving), and they get to see women in less than decent clothes. how can you be so naive to not understand that?

[Muezzin]

i disagree, it is a duty of those charged with authority in Islam to stem the causes of fitnah,
and graphic prostitution is illegal in Islam - actually any sort of prostitution is.
it is not enough to say - don't go to prostitutes, but we wont prevent prostitution from operating in the locality.

I never said that, so we are in agreement.

Also, the subject of women in the workplace has nothing to do with the original post. Please let's return to the topic.

[~ Sabr ~]

At last, some government has the intelligence to do this...rather than blocking Youtube