[Itpolicy-np] Crackdown riles ISPs

[Kishor Panth]

Looks like the users should be prepared to work without Internet and the
internet related technologies.

Cheers to the authorities

Kishor


On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 10:05 PM, Indiver Badal <ib at indiver.com> wrote:

> Read the story by Kuda Dixit -
> http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2010/09/3/Nation/17427
>
> The cabinet's new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), set up last
> month, has already come under fire for being overzealous, and
> violating constitutionally guaranteed privacy laws in going after
> Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
>
> The new 'FBI-style' unit was set up by the government two weeks ago in
> response to a nationwide rise in abductions, financial scams,
> cyber-crime and call-bypass syndicates. The high-powered and
> well-resourced force works under the direct control of the chief of
> police and is designed to act immediately to counter organised crime.
>
> However, by targeting Nepal's ISPs, the CBI has stirred a hornet's
> nest among IT companies, constitutional lawyers and consumer advocacy
> groups, who say the unit is overstepping its bounds.
>
> Sirish Karmacharya of the internet provider Namche was arrested this
> week and jailed for having provided bandwidth to customers who were
> allegedly using it to bypass calls. Nepal Telecommunication Authority
> (NTA) sent a letter this week to ISPs, warning of stiff punishment if
> they didn't fulfill conditions for operation that include filtering
> pornographic and 'horror' content. NTA wants material that 'incites
> racial and religious hatred' and is against the 'national interest'
> filtered.
>
> "The conditions are too broad and ISPs can't be held responsible for
> what the subscribers use the internet for, it's their private
> business," explains Binay Bohara of the ISP Association. "In any case,
> filtering content is very expensive, cumbersome and difficult."
>
> Constitutional lawyer Satish Kharel goes a step further and says NTA's
> conditions for use also violate the constitutionally guaranteed right
> to privacy. "Only parliament can pass laws restricting fundamental
> freedoms, it can't be done by NTA or the police," Kharel says. "This
> is an infringement of the constitution and also goes against the right
> to privacy under international human rights instruments to which Nepal
> is a signatory."
>
> Kharel, who specialises in telecommunications, says if the government
> is serious about going after those misusing Voice over Internet
> Protocol (VOIP), it should investigate the real culprits and not those
> who are simply selling the connection.
>
> KIRAN PANDAY
> Following the NTA directives to the letter would effectively shut down
> YouTube, Facebook, popular Nepali portals like cybersansar.com,
> mysansar.com, and even nepalitimes.com, because some of the comments
> in the feedback section could be construed to be objectionable.
>
> Minister of Information and Communication, Shankar Pokharel, said the
> government was losing billions in international call-bypass and was
> forced to act against operators with VOIP. "The state needs
> information on who is using excessive bandwidth at all times of the
> day, without this data it is difficult to catch the culprits,"
> Pokharel told Nepali Times. "All we are asking is for the ISPs to pass
> on this information."
>
> The police say they have been handicapped by their inability to access
> mobile phone and internet usage data in going after criminals. DIG
> Arjun Singh Bhandari says, "Our main concern is to ban VOIP calls as
> it becomes difficult to trace criminal activities, and organised
> crimes have been carried out using VOIP. We have requested ISPs to
> help us in our investigation."
>
> But Karmacharya's arrest and the fact that he has been presumed guilty
> until proven innocent has sent shockwaves through the ISP community,
> and lawyers are aghast at the lack of due process in the case. This
> has led to suspicion that the police are themselves involved in
> extorting ISPs. "It now seems to be our turn to be milked," said one
> cyber café owner in Thamel.
>
> Kunda Dixit
>
> ---------------------------------------------
>
> -- Thanks
> Indiver
>
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