FC: Saudi censors say they're winning the war against porn online

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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See also Reuters story on Saudi Net-censorship:
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35952,00.html

And, just for amusement value:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/saudi000425.html
April 25 ^× At least 40 people were killed in
violence that broke out along the Saudi-Yemen
border after Saudi police arrested a man
authorities there have denounced as a sorcerer. [...]
In Saudi Arabia, convicted sorcerers are beheaded.
*********

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_742000/742798.stm

              May 10
              By Frank Gardner in Riyadh

              The authorities in Saudi Arabia say they are
              winning the war against pornography on the
              internet.

              The director of the government organisation
              that monitors all Saudi internet traffic, Dr
              Fahad al-Hoymany, says he believes his unit is
              succeeding in blocking all the major
              pornographic sites.

              But he admits that it is hard to keep up when
              new sites are appearing almost every hour.

              The country's 30 ISPs, or Internet Service
              Providers, are all linked into a central node in
              the capital.

              For the estimated 130,000 users, access to
              the Saudi internet is controlled by this node.

              No censorship experts

              It is housed in a secure ground-floor room in
              the King Abdulaziz City of Science and
              Technology (KACST).

              There are no teams of censorship experts, just
              technicians.

              Some of them are from Finland, who operate
              filter programmes bought in from abroad.

              Dr Hoymany says the conservative and
              religious culture of the Saudi people means
              they want to be sure that if they log onto the
              net they will not be offended.

              As well as porn, the Saudi authorities block
              access to any sites they believe could stir up
              religious hatred.

              Websites giving advice on how to make your
              own bomb are also off-limits.

              [...]

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