george Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 MICT: 9,600 ‘offensive’ web pages have been blocked BANGKOK: -- The 2007 Computer Crimes Act will be amended to allow Internet Service Providers to immediately block ‘offensive’ web pages on sight or upon complaint without court orders or requests from the MICT, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry says. In a Manager report on 26 Aug, according to Angsumal Sunalai, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT), when contents and pictures deemed offensive to the monarchy are found in the internet, the MICT will request the ISPs to block those web pages, or URLs, and then will ask for court orders to permanently block them. The request for court orders usually takes only one day. Most of those ‘offensive’ websites have been found to be located abroad, and whenever websites are blocked, new websites can be easily created from anywhere in the world. The MICT has therefore been vigilant on monitoring the internet. So far, 9,600 web pages have been blocked, he said. As for the web-boards of Fah Diew Kan and Prachatai which have been complained for offensive comments, the MICT cannot block them because those comments do not refer to real names, using code names instead. Those posters of comments can be prosecuted only when they refer to specific names or post obvious pictures, Angsumal said. To ensure the effectiveness of blocking those ‘offensive’ websites, the MICT has set up a hotline 1212 service to receive complaints from the public. The 1212 Center is located at the same place as that of the Internet Security Operations Center (ISOC), and can also be reached by email: [email protected]. Currently, the MICT has received complaints on ‘offensive’ contents at the rate of 100 URLs per day. The 2007 Computer Crimes Act is in the process of being amended, with the MICT trying to change its clause to allow ISPs to immediately block the ‘offensive’ web pages, but it cannot be specified as to when the amendments will be finished, the Deputy Permanent Secretary said. -- prachatai.com 2009-08-28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Welcome to Thailibanland! The Thailiban have spoken! ... o I feel offended by a website. It shows a foreign lady in a very revealing swimsuit at Pattaya beach. Should I call the hotline.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geovalin Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 What does mean 9600 web pages? Is it 9600 web sites or 9600 pages from... 100 web sites? 9600 pages look very few. 9600 web sites is enormous. Well, there are a lot of porno on the net. It could be interesting to know the proportion of political / porno. Also the proportion of pages written in Thai / in English / in other languages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niller74 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Waste of time and money. People can be split up in two categories. 1. People that would get offended by this material and complain to the hot-line. These people would most likely NEVER see the content if they did not search for it. 2. People that want to read this material, will know how to circumvent the the filters. There will be a tiny group that accidentally stumble onto a site where some offending material is posted. My solution: Give them free counseling at the local psychologist if they cannot sleep at night. It would be much cheaper and probably more effective. China has tried to filter the Internet for many years already... and failed. What makes the Thais believe they can do it better? Cause they are smarter or have more money to spend on this than the Chinese? Bottom line.. YOU CANNOT CENSOR THE INTERNET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virtualtraveller Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 What gets me is that it gives ISPs enormous power to decide what you can and cannot see. There is no abuse mechanism here to fine ISPs for mis-applying the law. So, I want to kill a competitor's website, I post something bad on his webboard, complain to the ISP who immediately block it before the comment is moderated and then they have to try to get it 'unblocked' which could take months. Or, ISPs are less than scrupulous (what! here in Thailand, no never), you get your police buddy to pressure them into blocking a competitor's site on spurious grounds and then they have the burden of proof and long winded hassle of getting it unblocked. And all the while the truly offensive sites (or shall we say, the ones with the info that everyone really wants to read - like a banned biography perhaps) just keep popping up on a new url. Honestly, the people behind this whole hairbrained attempt to censor the net are exactly that! P.S. anyone noticed lately that a warning text 'this site has been blocked by the police...' is popping up a lot in the middle of content accidentally, refresh the page and it disappears, suggesting that content filters are now in place, although not working properly, and that my friends is why we have Fourth World Internet speeds at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Conners Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 (edited) Now we know why we've been getting erratic page errors "blocked by the royal thai police" over the last week .... someone trying to do something impossible. Edited August 28, 2009 by Phil Conners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsetBkk Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 What does mean 9600 ... It's the speed of the minister's modem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niller74 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 What does mean 9600 ... It's the speed of the minister's modem. ROFL, right on!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptuan Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Is dear Kuhn Angsumal bragging or complaining? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 (edited) close 9600 on Monday.... 10.000 new site will open on Tuesday close again these 10000 new site... 20000 will open concurrently to tilt at windmills Since the dawn of mankind governments have tried to eradicate the worlds oldest profession and didn't succeed Same will apply to web site banning MHO not same same but not different... Is 'Mr. Angsumal Sunalai, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT)' fully aware how many web sites are online in the so called world wide web...? I have my doubts Edited August 28, 2009 by webfact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crushdepth Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 BANGKOK: -- The 2007 Computer Crimes Act will be amended to allow Internet Service Providers to immediately block ‘offensive’ web pages on sight or upon complaint without court orders or requests from the MICT, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry says. Weren't they doing it this way already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jielus Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Facebook is shattered! No pictures loading! Everything fine in Malaysia. Thai problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Conners Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 No Facebook problems here (Pattaya, TT&T/Maxnet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Facebook is shattered! No pictures loading! Everything fine in Malaysia. Thai problem? loads fast with CSloxinfo from Bkk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veazer Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Facebook is shattered! No pictures loading! Everything fine in Malaysia. Thai problem? Same problem in CM with maxnet premier. The page loads but all the CSS files have been stripped bare so the pages have no layout/styling info and are totally useless. I renewed my external IP and it worked for about 5 minutes then fell apart again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKASA Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPS Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I'm in Pattaya, same problem. I noticed first on Facebook (photos, followed by css), then Tagged, now YouTube is beginning to flake out on me. IMHO, here's the reason for the mad-dash for censorship: "Activist Gets 18-Year Term for Insulting..." (google that) Not going to Bangkok this weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPS Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 Or possibly another reason, the "Internal Security Act", or a combination of both... Bangkok - A mass protest planned in Bangkok over the weekend was cancelled Saturday after the government imposed draconian security rules in parts of the Thai capital. Veera Musigkapong, leader of the United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), said the demonstration planned Sunday had been postponed until September 5. He cited concerns over the government's imposition of the Internal Security Act as the reason for the postponement, as it would give the authorities an opportunity to crack down on violent protests with impunity. The UDD, known as 'red shirts' for their signature choice of clothing, had planned a mass rally at the Royal Grounds to call for the return of fugitive politician Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's populist premier from 2001-06. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desi Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 facebook is fine here (BKK) YouTube is ok too but cafepress has been blocked for over a year that I know of (what's up with banning a coffee cup shop?) ilovethailand is now gone (no notice, just problem loading page) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 facebook is fine here (BKK)YouTube is ok too but cafepress has been blocked for over a year that I know of (what's up with banning a coffee cup shop?) ilovethailand is now gone (no notice, just problem loading page) cafepress loads just fine - ilovethailand is "off" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc2 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 As for the web-boards of Fah Diew Kan and Prachatai which have been complained for offensive comments, the MICT cannot block them because those comments do not refer to real names, using code names instead. Those posters of comments can be prosecuted only when they refer to specific names or post obvious pictures, Angsumal said. interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desi Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 (edited) cafepress loads just fine - ilovethailand is "off" cafepress for me... URL นี้ได้ถูกปิดกั้นแล้ว เนื่องจาก มีคำสั่งศาลให้ปิดกั้น หรือ มีลักษณะเข้าข่ายที่อาจกระทบต่อความมั่นคงแห่งราชอาณาจักร หรืออาจขัดต่อความสงบเรียบร้อยหรือศีลธรรมอันดีของประชาชน EDIT: Odd, but the rest of my comments are gone... Ok... I read last month that they are now bouncing between the court order pages (above) and the fake 'cannot find' pages. Edited August 30, 2009 by desi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heykki Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 (edited) I've only had an experience of my favorite porn site blocked. Enough to piss me off. It seems that if the website shows explicit videos of Thai people having sex, there's a risk of being blocked? Would be interesting to see what the criteria are.. Guys, if you are getting some normal websites blocked, it is only because your ISP doesn't know how to filter the websites or you need to clean your internet cache and cookies. Both coffeepress and ilovethailand work fine for me. Only empflix.com is blocked for me. I'm using TOT in Bangkok. Edited September 2, 2009 by heykki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAILIBAN Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Welcome to Thailibanland!The Thailiban have spoken! .....that's ME isn't it ^^ well, I knew why I have chosen this nickname long time ago..... sometimes people have a seventh sense of what the future will bring...... a Nazi-/Stasi-style surveillance in a country with double-moral-standards that would even make the US blush.... BTW, as for me, I have big problems loading MYSPACE these days.... anyone else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veazer Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 ...BTW, as for me, I have big problems loading MYSPACE these days.... anyone else ? I haven't been able to view myspace pages for a long time. i assumed it was blocked, though it's probably just another maxnet <deleted> up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losangels Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Can't access Thai student sexy uniform topic on TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRinger Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Waste of time and money.China has tried to filter the Internet for many years already... and failed. What makes the Thais believe they can do it better? Cause they are smarter or have more money to spend on this than the Chinese? Bottom line.. YOU CANNOT CENSOR THE INTERNET agreed, but how else to spend (justify) many millions of baht doing something that's easy to go around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathraser Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 I got to agree with Niller74. People will just create new 'offensive' websites after they have been blocked. It is a vicious and unstoppable cycle unless you banned the use of internet. But I don't think that is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagwan Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 It would take an army of civil servants to block as many porn sites every day as are created. Then consider how industrious civil servants are! Mr Phu Yai - you're hissing into the wind. Subjugation has never worked - the people always win in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 ...BTW, as for me, I have big problems loading MYSPACE these days.... anyone else ? I haven't been able to view myspace pages for a long time. i assumed it was blocked, though it's probably just another maxnet <deleted> up. You are probably right... myspace opens fast - I don't use maxnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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