New Internet Law

[monty]

It is actually very easy to set a fast and secure Internet Log server Linux based machine.

Just for under 8000 Baht.

I have 8 years experience with linux.

OK ish price if this is done with a new machine.

Buy an old 1500 Baht PC (min 128 Mb ram, put in extra network card) and install PFsense.

Total cost under 2000 Baht, brilliant firewall/router, all the logging you'll ever need, can even do fancy things such as load balancing or fail-over when you have two internet connections.

[niller74]

It is actually very easy to set a fast and secure Internet Log server Linux based machine.

Just for under 8000 Baht.

I have 8 years experience with linux.

OK ish price if this is done with a new machine.

Buy an old 1500 Baht PC (min 128 Mb ram, put in extra network card) and install PFsense.

Total cost under 2000 Baht, brilliant firewall/router, all the logging you'll ever need, can even do fancy things such as load balancing or fail-over when you have two internet connections.

Monty you keep referring to pfSense and cheap computers. There is a lot more to a solid firewall/router than just get a second hand computer and throw a default image of pfSense onto it.

A default pfSense installation does NOT provide the logging required.

Most people would never get that far, which is why they have to rely on professional assistance.

Many people could also buy a replacement engine for their truck, but that doesn't mean they will know how to replace it.

[monty]

Unfortunately I'm kind of a nerdy tinkerer

And obviously I like Pf sense and freeware in general.

And I believe in recycling as well, IMO there's way too much old PC's just lying around doing nothing, admittedly it's not elegant and energy efficient using that stuff for relatively low powered routing stuff.

I kind of feel that especially in Thailand there is way too little creative people willing to play around with that stuff, and instead always running to the commercially available packages. Which obviously have been tested and proven reliable, but often are very limited in customizing.

Did I ever mention I also like to tinker with the WRT54G Linksys hardware? Cheap to buy and you'd be amazed what you can do with all the free customized firmware around, including doing the required logging!

That's why I definitely enjoy seeing people like yourself and even brfsa2 (even when his post was commercial ) trying to get good things to work with little equipment.

[niller74]

Unfortunately I'm kind of a nerdy tinkerer

And obviously I like Pf sense and freeware in general.

And I believe in recycling as well, IMO there's way too much old PC's just lying around doing nothing, admittedly it's not elegant and energy efficient using that stuff for relatively low powered routing stuff.

I kind of feel that especially in Thailand there is way too little creative people willing to play around with that stuff, and instead always running to the commercially available packages. Which obviously have been tested and proven reliable, but often are very limited in customizing.

Did I ever mention I also like to tinker with the WRT54G Linksys hardware? Cheap to buy and you'd be amazed what you can do with all the free customized firmware around, including doing the required logging!

That's why I definitely enjoy seeing people like yourself and even brfsa2 (even when his post was commercial ) trying to get good things to work with little equipment.

Great come-back

I'm a great fan of freeware, old hardware etc, but unless you have the knowledge and TIME many people simply don't want the hazzle and they dont enjoy making old crappy computers spin like little kittens again like we do.

Edited August 27, 2008 by niller74

[octagon]

Where is the training of the Internet police going to come from? It is hard to imagine Thai police asking Internet cafe owners to show them their logging records.

[meadish_sweetball]

I am sure some external power would not be averse to provide such training to a specialized local unit, at none or nominal cost, since doing so could be directly beneficial to the activities of said external power.

[Prasert]

Where is the training of the Internet police going to come from? It is hard to imagine Thai police asking Internet cafe owners to show them their logging records.

There's a group of 35 officials (for entire Thailand) who can legally retrieve the logs. Check out the site from CSLoxinfo, there's a pdf available with a description of how their ID's look like and their names are published as well, although only in Thai.

Normal police has no right to retrieve logs or seize computers, unless instructed by this group from Bangkok.

However, I don't know if the normal police is unable to ask for tea money if you're (read: internet cafe owner) not logging and thus not upholding the law....

[Crushdepth]

This law reminds me of Phil Zimmermann's testimony to the US senate after they had spent 3 years trying to screw him for distributing free email encryption software:

The [government] seems to be attempting to deploy and entrench a communications infrastructure that would deny the citizenry the ability to protect its privacy. This is unsettling because in a democracy, it is possible for bad people to occasionally get elected-- sometimes very bad people. Normally, a well-functioning democracy has ways to remove these people from power. But the wrong technology infrastructure could allow such a future government to watch every move anyone makes to oppose it. It could very well be the last government we ever elect.

When making public policy decisions about new technologies for the government, I think one should ask oneself which technologies would best strengthen the hand of a police state. Then, do not allow the government to deploy those technologies. This is simply a matter of good civic hygiene.

[unomi]

This law reminds me of Phil Zimmermann's testimony to the US senate after they had spent 3 years trying to screw him for distributing free email encryption software:

The [government] seems to be attempting to deploy and entrench a communications infrastructure that would deny the citizenry the ability to protect its privacy. This is unsettling because in a democracy, it is possible for bad people to occasionally get elected-- sometimes very bad people. Normally, a well-functioning democracy has ways to remove these people from power. But the wrong technology infrastructure could allow such a future government to watch every move anyone makes to oppose it. It could very well be the last government we ever elect.

When making public policy decisions about new technologies for the government, I think one should ask oneself which technologies would best strengthen the hand of a police state. Then, do not allow the government to deploy those technologies. This is simply a matter of good civic hygiene.

Could not agree more.

[Phil Conners]

Perhaps only somewhat on-topic, but has anyone noticed considerable Internet deterioration since this law came by? The web is crawling these days. Why is it every time they get the Internet to work at least in a mediocre way here someone is bound to pass by and throw a spanner in the gears?

[niller74]

Perhaps only somewhat on-topic, but has anyone noticed considerable Internet deterioration since this law came by? The web is crawling these days. Why is it every time they get the Internet to work at least in a mediocre way here someone is bound to pass by and throw a spanner in the gears?

My CAT connection is roughly the same.

TOT and TT&T though definitely seems to have gone to the worse.. YES, you read correctly worse. No one thought that was possible, but it is.

[Lordfoul]

Seems it's always the same few people who jump in on every thread to say how bad the internet is in Thailand. So I guess I will jump in on every thread to say how good it has been. There has not been even the slightest difference in speed or quality on my 2Mb/1Mb 1090Bt/Mo Maxnet line since this Law came into place Aug 23rd. In the 3 Months been with them they have been every bit as stable (and much faster) than much more expensive leased lines I have used here for mission critical work. My CAT line which I had for more than three years also worked well but was nowhere near as stable as the TT&T line.

Perhaps only somewhat on-topic, but has anyone noticed considerable Internet deterioration since this law came by? The web is crawling these days. Why is it every time they get the Internet to work at least in a mediocre way here someone is bound to pass by and throw a spanner in the gears?

My CAT connection is roughly the same.

TOT and TT&T though definitely seems to have gone to the worse.. YES, you read correctly worse. No one thought that was possible, but it is.

[simon43]

Uonmi, Marcus, the reference in this thread and on BahtSold to avalable logging software is a piece of software that I recently wrote, (because I own a hotel with internet computers and I'm a software engineer). It logs all website urls or IP addresses against a date/timestamp and also logs the user's name and ID card/passport number.

The software is completely free, with no trial period, no viruses, keyloggers, pop-ups etc! It can be downloaded from my website and installation details are also provided, (non-techies can install it in a few minutes). right now, It has been tested on IE6 and IE7 browsers...

It is not intended to be an 'all-singing-all-dancing' solution. But it should satisfy the BiB....

Just PM me for the download link.

Simon