Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Saudi Arabia Blocks Viber Messaging Service

Posted by samzenpus on from the let's-see-what-you-got-there dept.

another random user writes in with news about Saudi Arabia blocking a popular messaging service for not providing "a means to to be monitored." "The head of the messaging application Viber has said people in Saudi Arabia have had basic freedoms taken away, after his service was blocked there. Talmon Marco told the BBC he did not know the reason for the move, but that Viber would be restored soon. In March Saudi authorities warned Viber and other encrypted messaging services that they would be blocked unless they provided a means to to be monitored. Mr Marco said he had refused to provide data requested by Saudi officials. The fact that Viber's free phone and text messaging service is no longer working in the country is not entirely unexpected. The Saudi telecoms regulator had warned the firm — along with Skype and Whatsapp — that they would be blocked if they did not agree to be monitored."

6 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Need more Tor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Everybody needs to be using Tor on their mobile device and running lots of servers to help these people.

  2. Not surprising by readingaccount · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you want to do business in a country, you have to follow the laws. Sounds like the Saudi authorities gave clear and fair warning that the service would be blocked if the capability for monitoring was not implemented, and yet Viber chose to disregard the warning. So they were blocked.

    Having said that, I do NOT agree with these laws, clearly (because I'm on Slashdot). I'm also not one to just give a pass to any country's immoral laws because "that's just how they do things". The law sucks... but it's also clear what the law is in most countries and if you don't agree to do business and follow it, well, no surprises what will happen.

    Not that it really matters too much. "Viber would be restored soon" translates to "we'll implement the monitoring requirements the Saudi's want, because fuck it, we like money and would rather kick up a fuss on the BBC than actually stick to our position and pull out of a hostile country."

    1. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Indeed.

      If I want to do business in the USA, then all my user's data has to go to the NSA.

      At least the Saudi's are open about it.

  3. It's a surveillance app from Israel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Talmon Marco, ex Israeli IDF (he was the Chief Information Officer for the Israel military FFS) runs the company. They blocked it presumably because it is too-good-to-be-true free calls. Mostly likely surveillanceware paid for by the surveillance industry, since you have to pay for the servers somehow! You can't simply offer a free app and provide free servers and somehow everything pays for itself.

    He moved to the UK, set up a lot of US companies, focussing on network management and VOIP. i.e. stuff suitable for intelligence gathering.

    " Starting 1993, Mr. Marco served as CIO for the Israeli Defense Forces Central Command. In 1995, Mr. Marco Co-Founded Nortex Software, a developer of Civil Engineering software.In 1997 he Co-founded Expand Networks, a privately held, venture back, world leader in Application Traffic Management. Mr. Marco served as President at Expand Networks until 2004, at which point the company reached a run-rate of $20M revenue a year. In 1998, Mr. Marco co-founded iMesh, a social networking and music destination serving 10 million unique users, where he currently serves as President. Mr. Marco holds a degree in Computer Science and Management from the Tel-Aviv University."

    http://www.chubbybrain.com/companies/guestcentric-systems/people/talmon-marco

    If you look at the Wikipedia page, he tried to hide the origin of Viber.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Quinta222
    "Hello, Quinta222. It looks like you are currently engaged in an edit war at Viber; the page was protected recently to stop the string of reversions between you and Utlguy, but it appears to have continued again. Please stop reverting edits to this page, and make an effort to discuss the edit on the article's talk page."

    Yet it's clearly Israeli and he is/was clearly Israeli Army CIO.
    http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000746993&fid=1725

    Senator Dianne Feinstein, will no doubt defend it as legal.

    1. Re: It's a surveillance app from Israel by moshiko · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Since the army service in Israel is mandatory, this ridiculous claim is that every Israeli company is working for the army.
      Coming from another leading Israeli VoIP company myself - I can state that the only security forces ever approaching us were American - with their CALEA program.
      We refused to cooperate.

      --
      I love burekas in the morning
  4. Viber app by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Taking a look at the Viber app, "Viber allows you to text, call, and send photos and video messages worldwide for free to over 200 million users using 3G or Wifi"...." the app syncs with your mobile contact list"...

    So the app grabs your contacts lists, there's the graph data right there, 200 million users a lot of expensive servers.

    Trying to install it, it requires your GPS location, Microphone (no surprise there, its VOIP), Camera... Your accounts, Your Phone Calls, Directly call numbers, read phone status, and identity. Your social information, modify contacts, read call logs, read your contacts, read your social stream, write call logs, write your social stream....

    It even gives itself permission to run at startup.

    Motherload!