October 14, 2002
More futile efforts to block the future.
The NY Times
reports that Vietnam is now requiring permission for new web sites, at least for "businesses and organizations", however that's defined. That's a first, I think. At least, I haven't heard of any other governments doing this, certainly not so openly and directly. The US government requires internet radio sites to get permission from the government and pay fees in order to exercise their civil rights, which is essentially the same thing, but of course, when Americans do it it's called "business", not censorship.
"Worried by the increasing numbers of Vietnamese with access to news from outside sources, officials have been trying to tighten their control over the Internet. ... The government recently ordered that owners of the country's estimated 4,000 Internet cafes be held responsible for controlling their clients' Web surfing. ... Under current law, however, Internet offenses in the tightly controlled communist country are punishable by fines of up to $3,250 or up to three years in jail."
Anyway, it amazes me that governments continue to think that they can do this. China's attempt to block Google only lasted a few weeks, and so on. But it's a frightening trend.
