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Anonymous Lists Sites. and VoIP Services, Blocked In the UAE

another random user writes "A group of Anonymous-affiliated hackers claims to have gained access to the servers in charge of filtering Internet traffic in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to the hackers, they have identified a number of domain categories that are currently being blocked. These include websites that host adult content, VPN providers and any other site that could help users bypass censorship mechanisms, social media networks and dating sites, and ones that promote religious views other than Islam. The most 'shocking' discovery, as described by the hackers, is the fact that many websites that offer Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are also on the list. 'A large part of UAE's population is made of migrant workers and the telecom industry made a lot of profit by overcharging them for international phone calls. But with the raise of VOIP and internet communication they were afraid that this would take away their profits and thus went ahead to block VOIP,' they explained."

20 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Apparently, it's not that bad. by BanHammor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because if you block those for the majority of the population, productivity will skyrocket.

  2. Generic Article Template by billcopc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Here's an easy fill-in-the-blanks template to deduplicate about a third of /. submissions:

    "Western [social class] shocked at [tyrannical behaviour] in [undeveloped nation]. Allusions to widespread corruption cause outrage. [fingers|guns|nukes] pointed. [links to U.S. corporate interests] completely ignored. [someone else] should do something."

    Yes, the UAE is a shithole run by fascist inbred swine. I think I figured that out by the time I started kindergarten. Perhaps we could figure out a way to extract the bad guys and paradrop them on a secluded island that is subjected to hourly carpet bombings. Or maybe tie them to a desk chair and force them to work for Joel Spolsky, but that seems cruel.

    --
    -Billco, Fnarg.com
  3. Editors? by Goaway · · Score: 4, Funny

    Slashdot Editors Ignore. Strange Punctuation, In Headline.

    1. Re:Editors? by hedleyroos · · Score: 4, Funny

      No editor can be that poor at English. It must be on purpose.

    2. Re:Editors? by SpzToid · · Score: 1

      You mean as in stenography?

      --
      You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
    3. Re:Editors? by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      Maybe William Shatner has started ghostwriting for Slashdot.

  4. Colour me surprised by benjfowler · · Score: 1

    A barbarian with lots of money is STILL a barbarian.

    The Gulf Arabs still haven't gotten the memo.

    1. Re:Colour me surprised by girlintraining · · Score: 3, Informative

      A barbarian with lots of money is STILL a barbarian.

      No, a barbarian with a lot of money is called a CEO.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
  5. Did anyone else download the list... by gshegosh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...just to find some interesting websites to take a look at? :-)

  6. Nearly a state-run monopoly... by vwgtiturbo · · Score: 4, Informative

    I deploy there quite a bit, and there used to be only one option for phone calls, Etisalat. Before I learned about VPN services, I had no choice but to get screwed by them (it was about a dollar per minute in a prepaid cell card). Another company finally came in from Dubai (Du) but I am not sure what the rates are, as I was already using a VPN and never needed to use the cell. In any case, the UAE is the perfect hypocritical example. While the locals are running around doing whatever they want, non-locals are fairly restricted (unless you have money and knew where to go).

  7. Another example why net neutrality is needed. by ad454 · · Score: 1

    Nice to know that this is the model that is being promoted in Canada, USA, and other western nations to protect us and our children from the bad guys, when it is really about protecting out-dated corporate business models and interests.

    It is a shame that the vast ignorant masses have no interest in knowing that their plutocratic governments are screwing them over, in exchange for campaign contributions, cushy post-government jobs, lecture fees, and other perks.

  8. Islam is the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So many people are deluded into thinking Dubai is some kind of secular state, when they're really just another Islamic theocracy. Good for Anonymous for helping shatter that perception.

    Seriously, when the most secular-appearing Muslim-dominated country has even less separation of church and state than even the most religiously conservative country of any other religion (Christianity included), the problem is Islam.

    Fuck Islam.

    1. Re:Islam is the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A secular state where proselytizers of religions other than Islam are subject to arrest and prosecution, and even though liberal compared to other predominantly Islam countries, dressing immodestly can still face arrest. Dubai is San Francisco compared to some other Middle-Eastern states, yet cannot be called a secular state while its legal code is used to enforce religious mores. Mind you, there are plenty of European countries where the same is true.

    2. Re:Islam is the problem by couchslug · · Score: 1

      My deployment on a friendly basis to the most prosperous nations Muslims ever produced made me utterly despise Islam.

      All religion is nonsense, but Islam is extremely oppressive nonsense. If it were a secular ideology, it would get zero respect. Only because fools respect fantasy is superstition not treated with the contempt it deserves.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  9. I am shockinged! Shockinged! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Why is what a kleptocracy and dictatorship does "shocking"?

    What do you think people there, or here, seek power for in government? So they can gain economic advantages by putting competition, forcefully, out of business.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  10. For those in need of VoIP by paxcoder · · Score: 1

    Enable WebRTC in Chromium (about:flags), and use https://apprtc.appspot.com/. Here's the code if they block the rendes-vouz server: http://www.webrtc.org/blog/sourcecodetoapprtcappspotcomexampleappavailable

  11. Linux Distributions Blocked by Sesostris+III · · Score: 2

    10959 http://en.opensuse.org/
    11772 http://www.slackware.com/
    11189 http://qa.mandriva.com/

    What on earth could they have against Slackware, OpenSuSE and Mandriva? There are other entries:

    11304 http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/
    11312 http://torrent.ubuntu.com:6969/

    but these could be explained by being torrents. No Debian, CentOS or Mageia in the list. Strange.

    --
    You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. - Blake
    1. Re:Linux Distributions Blocked by santax · · Score: 1

      I think they found out that Debian is just the better linux-distro of them all :)

  12. Skype works in the UAE by bunyip · · Score: 1

    How do I know this? I was using it from my hotel room about an hour ago...

    1. Re:Skype works in the UAE by hashp · · Score: 1

      Yes it does indeed, for some reason. I live here, I know. http://www.skype.com/ is not available though.