Pakistan yesterday lifted the ban on YouTube that had existed in the country since Friday, and which had caused a global blackout of the Google-owned video-sharing site for a couple of hours following an error. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority told ISPsthey no longer had to restrict access to the site. The ban had been put in place, it was said, because the site showed material offensive to Islam, which some believed to be a reference to a trailerfor a forthcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders. Interestingly, a BBC reporter said that a software company whose material made it possible forpeople in China to access blocked sites saw a spike of Pakistani traffic while the ban was in place. Why was the ban lifted? Early reports were that the so-called offensive material had beenremoved, but those vanished later. So the reason ultimately remains as mysterious as the cause behind the government imposing a ban in the first place. More than that, the global blackout served as areminder that the Web is indeed a fragile thing, although we take its strength for granted. Pakistan is hardly the first country to ban YouTube. Thailand, Morocco and others have done the samein the past.
Tag Archive: Morocco
Pakistan Lifts YouTube Ban
Turkey Blocks Access to YouTube…Again
A Turkish court has blocked access to Google’s popular video sharing Web site YouTube because the site offers clips allegedly insulting the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkish visitors attempting to visit YouTube are instead being greeted with a notice in English and Turkish saying access to the site has been banned by the order of an Ankara court issued January 17.
Back in March, another Turkish court blocked access to YouTube for two days over similar complaints. In that instance, the block was lifted after YouTube removed the videos at the source of the complaint. There’s no word on how long the current ban may last, but if the past episode is any indicator, Google will move to have access re-established quickly.
“Cyber Jihad†Inciters Jailed
Three men have been jailed in Britain for inciting terrorist murder on the Internet. Younis Tsouli, 23, Tariq Al-Daour, 21, and Wasemm Mughal were all found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in London. Moroccan-born Tsouli, a computer expert who worked with Al-Queda, received 10 years. Al-Daour, a British citizen born in the Arab Emirates, was given six-and-a-half years, while Mughal, who has a degree in chemistry from Leicester University, received seven-and-a-half years. This was the first British prosecution for such an incident. All three had pleaded guilty to the charge of inciting another person or persons to commit an act of terrorism wholly or partly outside the U.K. which would, if committed in England or Wales, constitute murder. Additionally, they admitted to conspiring to defraud banks and credit card companies. Tsouli was known as Irhabi007 online, and helped distribute Al-Queda videos on the Internet. He was arrested in 2005 after two terrorist suspects were arrested in Bosnia. Examination of their cell phone records led to the arrest of more than 30 people across Europe and North America. As he passed sentence, judge Mr. Justice Openshaw said that the three men had tried to incite a “cyber jihad.” Referring to Tsouli, whom he said should be deported to Morocco after completing his sentence, the judge pronounced that “he came no closer to a bomb or a firearm than a computer keyboard.”
Blazing Angels Clears Runway
Ubisoft yesterday announced their highly anticipated WWII squadron-based flight action game Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII had been released and was due to appear in stores this week. The title will be available for the Xbox, Xbox 360 and PC.
In Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII, said Ubisoft, players will take part in some of the most famous air battles of World War II as they fly up to 38 WWII aircraft in both single player and multiplayer missions. During the course of the 18-mission campaign, players will evolve along with their wingmen as they fly through battle sites such as England, Germany, France, Morocco, Pearl Harbor, Midway and Tokyo. The storyline of the game will follow the evolution of a single squadron with a
Zotob, Mytob Worm Writers Arrested
The FBI and Microsoft announced today that Moroccan and Turkish authorities have arrested the alleged authors of the Zotob and Mytob worms, variants of which are currently high-profile online threats to Windows operating systems. Farid Essebar, ann 18 year-old Moroccan national born in Russia operating under the alias "Diabl0" was arrested Morocco, while Turkish authorities arrested Atilla Ekici, age 21, who operated under the alias "Coder." According to the FBI, both suspects will be subject to prosecution by local authorities.
According to a Morrocan new story, Essebar and Ekici were using information stolen from infected computers in a bank card fraud scheme.
New LG Qiblah Phone Points To Mecca
LG’s F7100 model is equipped with more upgraded functions compared to the initial Mecca indicator phone launched last year. Thus, LG Electronics is pushing to further strengthen itsregion-friendly marketing.
LG Electronics has introduced to the market the Qiblah phone (model:LG-F7100) which comes complete with embedded compass, direction indication and prayer time alarm (Azan feature), usable in 500cities worldwide. LG Electronics has launched the Mecca indicator phone in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Middle East nations, as well as North African nations. LGE held a launching ceremony inDubai, on July 20th.
