ICT Ministry Prepares To Revoke The 5th CNS Announcement

[Jai Dee]

ICT Ministry prepares to revoke the 5th CNS announcement

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is preparing to revoke the 5th announcement of the Council for National Security (CNS).

ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom (สิทธิชัย โภไคยอุดม) will arrange a press conference this afternoon to announce the withdrawal of the 5th CNS announcement.

Under the enforcement of the 5th CNS announcement, ICT Ministry has been assigned to control, obstruct, and prevent messages or speeches that might affect the democratic system in the country.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 25 June 2007

[John K]

Is this tied to the internet censorship?

[Mid]

Political websites,YouTube, to be allowed by ICT

BANGKOK, June 25 (TNA) - The Information and Communication Technology Ministry plans to ask the cabinet to waive a decree issued by the Council for National Security, earlier known as the Council for Democratic Reform, which has prohibited political websites, said ICT minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom.

[wpcoe]

Any report of WHEN they might do this? I really, really miss youtube.com ... it's my way of reliving my disco days with all the 70's and 80's music videos.

[silverhawk_usa]

Any report of WHEN they might do this? I really, really miss youtube.com ... it's my way of reliving my disco days with all the 70's and 80's music videos.

I don't believe this will resolve the You Tube issue as that was a specific circumstance dealing with the representation of the King and not really political censorship by the CNS. IMHO.

[Old Man River]

Any report of WHEN they might do this? I really, really miss youtube.com ... it's my way of reliving my disco days with all the 70's and 80's music videos.

I don't believe this will resolve the You Tube issue as that was a specific circumstance dealing with the representation of the King and not really political censorship by the CNS. IMHO.

According to MCOT, You Tube will be allowed if the cabinet waives the decree. Of course, all bets are off if there is a subsequent posting of similar nature.

[Mid]

Thailand to lift ban on YouTube

The Information and Communication Technology Ministry plans to ask the cabinet to waive a decree issued by the Council for National Security, earlier known as the Council for Democratic Reform, which has prohibited political websites, said ICT minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom.

The Post Publishing Public Co

Edited June 25, 2007 by Mid

[farangsay]

ICT Ministry prepares to revoke the 5th CNS announcement

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is preparing to revoke the 5th announcement of the Council for National Security (CNS).

ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom (สิทธิชัย โภไคยอุดม) will arrange a press conference this afternoon to announce the withdrawal of the 5th CNS announcement.

Under the enforcement of the 5th CNS announcement, ICT Ministry has been assigned to control, obstruct, and prevent messages or speeches that might affect the democratic system in the country.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 25 June 2007

So the NLA's most "colourful" character was authorised to gag Sonthi , Surayed et al ?

You just have to laugh.

I hope and presume these announcements don't get reproduced in the international media.

I can just imagine that guy from the "Daily Show" on CNN turning down a Thailand franchise saying "No , couldn't do it - it would just be too easy".

[sriracha john]

Any report of WHEN they might do this? I really, really miss youtube.com ... it's my way of reliving my disco days with all the 70's and 80's music videos.

I don't believe this will resolve the You Tube issue as that was a specific circumstance dealing with the representation of the King and not really political censorship by the CNS. IMHO.

According to MCOT, You Tube will be allowed if the cabinet waives the decree. Of course, all bets are off if there is a subsequent posting of similar nature.

From the MCOT article, it sounds as if YouTube has agreed to cooperate to prevent a reoccurence:

Google, the US-based parent corporation of YouTube, had offered to see to it that any lese majeste content will be kept off that website, he added.

However.... as of now, offensive videos remain on the site.... so we shall see if it comes to pass.

[konangrit]

Any report of WHEN they might do this? I really, really miss youtube.com ... it's my way of reliving my disco days with all the 70's and 80's music videos.

I don't believe this will resolve the You Tube issue as that was a specific circumstance dealing with the representation of the King and not really political censorship by the CNS. IMHO.

According to MCOT, You Tube will be allowed if the cabinet waives the decree. Of course, all bets are off if there is a subsequent posting of similar nature.

From the MCOT article, it sounds as if YouTube has agreed to cooperate to prevent a reoccurence:

Google, the US-based parent corporation of YouTube, had offered to see to it that any lese majeste content will be kept off that website, he added.

However.... as of now, offensive videos remain on the site.... so we shall see if it comes to pass.

This Bangkok Post article explains it all far clearer.

Mr Sitthichai also announced yesterday he will this week restore access to the immensely popular YouTube website. He had learned the webmaster would block Thai viewers from seeing some improper content.

So most of YouTube will be back this week, but instead of blocking the whole site, individual pages considered lese majeste will be blocked. Far more sensible than the current situation, but why so long for common sense to prevail.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom is seeking the revocation of a coup-makers' announcement that empowers him to close websites at will.

He wants the process to be handled by a court instead.

Mr Sitthichai said he would ask the cabinet next week to move for the revocation of announcement No.5 of the Council for Democratic Reform, because it gave too much power to the ICT minister to order websites closed.

A law passed recently dealing with computer-related crime was the perfect replacement for the announcement, he said. The act was published in the Royal Gazette on June 18 and takes effect after 30 days. That would coincide with the process to revoke announcement No.5 by resolution of the National Legislative Assembly.

"I don't want the ICT minister to have too much decision-making power, especially when we'll soon have a new government," Mr Sitthichai said.

"Under the new law that governs electronic transactions an attempt to close a website needs to go through the courts."

He insisted he had closed only about 200 websites, most of them pornographic.

The Thaksin Shinawatra government had closed at least 10,000 websites, even though no law with similar power to announcement No.5 was in existence at the time, he said.

This is good news, hopefully it will lead to far less internet censorship. The plan is to have this in effect by July 18. My question is, will all currently blocked sites then have to legally be unblocked until the courts rule that they should or should not be blocked, or will currently blocked sites have to go to court to get unblocked?

[sriracha john]

It seems now that Google will be the one censoring its content.

I wonder if ALL those TV posters that lambasted the government for doing so will now lambast Google?????

Google is Set to Censor YouTube in Thailand

GOOGLE, which is enlisting American trade negotiators to fight growing internet censorship, has agreed to censor its own YouTube site in Thailand.

The company, with the corporate motto Do No Evil, yesterday said censorship was its number one barrier to business but the firm continues to send out mixed signals on the problem.

Google's video-sharing site YouTube was blocked throughout Thailand by the government after a clip critical of the country's king was posted there.

But Thai information technology minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom says a limited form of the site may soon reappear when Google makes good on its promise to censor its site by blocking Thai viewers from seeing "improper content".

The compromise is embarrassing for Google which, despite its talk, has been willing to collude with Asian governments on censorship.

It agreed to censor sites in China as a condition to operating in the country..

- Evening Standard (UK)

[konangrit]

I wonder if ALL those TV posters that lambasted the government for doing so will now lambast Google?

But it's still the government forcing Google to do this, isn't it? It's better that they block a few childish videos than block the whole site surely?

[kmart]

Another knee-jerk reaction to overseas criticism of Thailand's recent Internet censorship, lumping it in with other bastions of freedom like Iran; Saudi; Yemen; N. Korea; etc. It will be great to get youtube back of course, but the underlying cause of censorship remains un-addressed.

[sriracha john]

I wonder if ALL those TV posters that lambasted the government for doing so will now lambast Google?

But it's still the government forcing Google to do this, isn't it? It's better that they block a few childish videos than block the whole site surely?

I think the best solution is simply for Google to have its "report as offensive" button actually do something. Previously, the offensive videos had received thousands of clicks to no avail. They ignored the reasoned pleas of an entire nation and instead, milked the notoriety for all the advertising dollars they could get from it.

In the end, there should be no need to block any videos... but simply have Google establish some guidelines governing their "report as offensive" button that would enable removal of offensive videos within a reasonable time-line.

The problem arises from their view that these offensive videos generate net traffic which equals money and that that over-rides their own posted rules of decency.

Edited June 28, 2007 by sriracha john

[Plus]

Is it going to be localised youtube similar to localised google?

[MrSnrang]

If it's gonna be localized then you can probably prepare for a big wad of suck.

There's a problem when other people can choose what's appropriate for you and you know that the blocked videos will extend past lese majeste and into perceived immorality.

[konangrit]

If it's gonna be localized then you can probably prepare for a big wad of suck.

There's a problem when other people can choose what's appropriate for you and you know that the blocked videos will extend past lese majeste and into perceived immorality.

Well fortunately Google will be the ones deciding, and not the current moral crusaders, so it's not as likely to extend beyond videos deemed lese majeste. The future plans for a court to decide on what gets blocked seems much better than the current situation. In an ideal Thailand we'd have no internet censorship whatsoever, but Thailand is far from ideal.

[Phil Conners]

Who sensors the sensors?