Cuban Government Toughens Internet Restrictions

edibleplastic writes "The BBC is reporting that the Cuban government is cutting off much of its citizens' access to the internet. 'The move clamps down on the thousands of Cubans who illegally access the internet from their homes. From now on, it will not be possible to dial up the main government server from most domestic phone lines. Only lines which are paid for in dollars will have direct access. These are usually restricted to foreigners. Amnesty International says this is an attempt to shield Cubans from alternative views.'" This is a good time to revisit two earlier stories about Cuba's attitude toward modern communications.

Comments

Don't worry!

[shfted!]

Sending smoke singals with cigars is still legal!

Cuba is on the leading edge

[jptechnical]

of anti-spam measures.

what's cuba like?

[ciaran_o_riordan]

A friend of mine was in Cuba a few years ago, and he says it's a great place. A brilliant medical system which is government funded, the streets are absolutely safe at night, and the people are friendly and inviting (twice he was invited in for dinner at the houses of two families he met while there).

And then you hear about Cubans trying to get to the US on crappy rafts etc.

Maybe some want to leave because they see American TV shows or movies and they think the whole continent is safe, nice, accepting, etc. Maybe if the Cuban govt. let the population see what the rest of the world is really like, they'd be less enthusiastic to leave Cuba.

I'm not suggesting that Cuba is heaven, but from only looking at TV it would be easy for Cubans to have a romantic grass-is-much-greener vision of what the US is like.

Re:what's cuba like?

[MachDelta]

Cuba is a great place IMO. I spent two weeks there on vacation, and had a blast. The thing I liked about Cuba over, say.. Mexico (a similar experience), is that I was exposed to and absorbed a lot more of the culture and country. It was really great just to walk around a city and see people go about their daily lives. Just soak up the place.
The funny thing is though, the general vibe I got from the two weeks I spent there was that people really just didn't care. They didn't care about America, they didn't care what Castro was doing. Not that they're apathetic... I mean, it was all very relaxed. Sure, their country was communist. Who cares? They get free healthcare, free education, free food (limited, of course). Yay Castro! Yeah, he's a control freak. Big deal. They get everything they need, so whats the problem? The Cubans pretty much just live their lives, regardless of politics. I really liked that. Its kind of humbling to see when you're used to reading about a new lawsuit every three days. Honestly, we could learn a lot from their attitudes and lifestyle. :)

Re:what's cuba like?

[Nadsat]

>> The funny thing is though, the general vibe I got from the two weeks I spent there was that people really just didn't care.

That's what I would say describes the majority of Americans. Americans don't want to be bothered. The typical says I don't care about ozone, children in sweatshops making my disney t-shirts, special interest bombs going off in cities where I can't pronounce the names. Bush is cool. He wants to stop baseball players from using steroids. And I like MARS--let's go to MARS!

So, arguably, the average American, Cuban, whoever, may equally not care as their rights are taken away. I guess what marks Americans is that Americans feel they have to impose their values on others... and they have a long history of doing so. Manefist Destiny spirit.

I mean, if Fidel were to suddenly wage an all out war against a country who didn't attack Cuba because Fidel wanted better control of its resources and was afraid, wetting his pants with fear... would Cubans care then? Would they?

Re:what's cuba like?

[Pave Low]

A friend of mine was in Cuba a few years ago, and he says it's a great place.

Of course foreigners are treated great there; that's their meal ticket. Tourism and prostitution are the only real growth industries in Cuba.

A brilliant medical system which is government funded, the streets are absolutely safe at night,

This sounds exactly like the old "Mussolini made the trains run on time" excuse. This sure must make up for the lack of political and economic freedoms.

Maybe if the Cuban govt. let the population see what the rest of the world is really like they'd be less enthusiastic to leave Cuba.

Or maybe if they did, more people would demand change in Cuba and threaten Castro's 50 year iron-fisted rule.

Why they need dollars

[Mod Me God]

They have to connect to the internetional telecoms network, and need to pay for that. The Cuban Peso is not a freely exchnged currency, telcos won't take it as payment, they need dollars, so Cuba has to get them from somewhere. The internet is not very restricted if they pay in USD. I am sure this is not the only reason, but it is a major one, perhaps Amnesty International could get off the soap box and offer to subsidise bandwidth costs if they feel so strongly... the fact is most citizens of developing countries do not have access to the internet. The Soviet Union broke up without its citizens using the internet, China has embraced capitalism not due to the internet, the Berlin Wall fell in no part due to the internet. Infact as the internet has become so wide spread it has had little value-added effect other communication didn't already have in developing countries.

the path to Freedom

[jmlyle]

There are two ways to free the Cuban people.

1) Declare that they have Weapons of Mass Destruction. Invade. Cause massive damage and destruction and death. Set up a puppet government. Leave. Watch as the government fails within 50 years, just like every single time we do this.

2) Stop the trade restrictions. Let captitalism eat them away from the inside. Maybe fund a show on the WB about a wacky Cuban group of friends.