Thursday, December 15, 2011

First call centre to open

Burma will have its first information call centre in three days.

Called Yadanabon call centre, the information service will open on Saturday, operated by Maynmar Telecommunication and Blue Ocean Company in a joint venture.

Free information will be provided for the first two months of operation to people searching for relevant government departments and offices, but are not sure who they should contact, according to the state-run MRTV website. After the free-service period, the centre will charge a fee for each service.

The centre will be open 24-hours a day, providing information on public education, health, social services and communication services. In addition, it will offer special services to private companies by answering their calls and providing information.

Services related to the Internet, e-mail and faxing will also be offered. The operation will employ a staff of 240 people, according to a news release.

The CIA World Factbook says that while Burma’s telephone system “meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government,” it is “barely capable of providing a basic service” for average citizens.

In 2010, the Burmese government had installed a total of 1.3 million mobile phones and 866,084 landlines as of July, the Weekly Eleven journal said, citing statistics released by Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.

In contrast, neighbouring Thailand had 28 million mobile phone users in 2008, or nearly half the population.

Part of the reason for Burma’s late communications development has been the high cost of mobile phones: when GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) phones were introduced, initial subscription fees were 1.5 million kyat (US $1,500). The average annual wage in Burma is a little over US $250.

Since then, CDMA phones were introduced at a lower cost, but mobile phones remain well beyond the reach of most Burmese citizens.

Source : Mizzima English

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

ITU/ASEAN Subregional CSIRT/CIRT/CERT Workshop for CLMV

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and ASEAN are jointly organizing the ITU - ASEAN Subregional CSIRT/CIRT/CERT Workshop for Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., Myanmar and VietNam (CLMV) which will be held in Yangon, Myanmar on 29 Nov – 1 Dec 2011. The Workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs of Myanmar

The Workshop is a joint effort of ITU and ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Senior Officials (TELSOM) that aims to provide a platform for cooperation, information sharing, and discussion on cybersecurity and with particular focus on CSIRT/CIRT/CERT policies, procedures, best practices, challenges and opportunities among participants from ASEAN Member Countries, in particular, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and VietNam (CLMV) and ASEAN Dialogue Partners.

The Workshop aims to contribute to previous as well as ongoing global activities related to building confidence and security in the use of ICTs (WSIS Action Line C5) and is linked to the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) and Hyderabad Action Plan Programme 2 (Cybersecurity, ICT Applications and IP-based network-related issues). It expects to bring together CIRT practitioners, senior government officials, cybersecurity experts, related industry players and other stakeholder groups from ICT and security sectors with the end in view of strengthening the countries’ CIRTs, their cybersecurity fundamentals as well as building a network of cybersecurity experts in ASEAN.

One important feature of the Workshop is the conduct of a cyber drill/simulation on the last day of the workshop. Thus, participation of your national CIRT practitioners is highly recommended. Please find attached a tentative Workshop Programme, for your reference.

Please be also informed that as co-organizer, ASEAN will be offering sponsorship to participants of Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., VietNam; and Myanmar (if they are not residing in Yangon), as well as speakers of some ASEAN Member States, inclusive of airfare, lodging and per diem. The ASEAN Secretariat will be contacting the relevant focal points of your Administration for more details. Participants from all other ASEAN Member States are encouraged to participate in the Workshop on self-funding basis.

Original link : http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/asp/CMS/Events/2011/CIRTWkshp/

Friday, November 11, 2011

Researchers Spot Blue Coat Web Control Gear In Another Repressive Regime: Burma

Since Web filtering and network monitoring gear from Blue Coat Systems turned up in Syria last month, the company has been scrambling to avoid a reputation as an Internet arms provider to the world’s most repressive dictatorships. A new report from Canadian researchers won’t help: It shows that Blue Coat gear has been used in Burma, too.

A team at Citizen Lab, a research center at the University of Toronto focused on Internet security and human rights, released evidence Wednesday that shows Blue Coat devices were deployed in Burma as well as Syria to filter and surveil the Internet. Using remote scanning tools and field researchers in both countries, they say they’ve found 13 more Blue Coat devices in Syria, as well as strong evidence that the company’s gear was used in Burma as well.

Citizen Lab found three clues that place Blue Coat gear used for surveillance and censorship in the military-controlled Southeast Asian country. First, they scanned IP addresses at Burma’s primary internet service provider Yatanarpon Teleport, and found names of devices that match Blue Coat’s names like “fw-webfilter” and “bc-director.” Second, they queried Blue Coat devices known to be in Syria and matched their error messages with those in Burma. And third, they correlated their own survey of 500 blocked websites in Burma with preset categories of filtering on Blue Coat devices like “Intimate Apparel and Swimsuits” and “LGBT,” and found a close-to-100% correlation.

“While not definitive, it is unlikely that this correlation would be as strong were Burma to use an alternative filtering system,” reads the report. Ron Deibert, a University of Toronto political science professor and Citizen Lab’s director, makes a stronger statement: ”With these three pieces of evidence, it’s practically impossible that these aren’t Blue Coat devices.”

A Blue Coat spokesperson I reached by phone declined to comment immediately and referred me to a statement on the company’s website published yesterday.”Blue Coat has become aware that certain Blue Coat ProxySG Web security appliances apparently were transferred illegally to Syria after being lawfully sold to a channel distribution partner for a seemingly appropriate designated end user. Blue Coat does not sell to countries embargoed by the US, and does not allow its partners to sell to embargoed countries,” the statement reads in part. “We don’t want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States. If our review of the facts about this diversion presents solutions that enable us to better protect against future illegal and unwanted diversion of our products, we intend to take steps to implement them.”

Burma, sometimes known as Myanmar, remains on a list of companies with whom the U.S. government carefully restricts trade, though it’s not clear whether sales of Blue Coat-type devices to the country would be illegal. Under the military junta that controls the country, opposition groups and minorities have been brutally repressed, and during a bloody crackdown on protests in 2007 the country became the first to temporarily shut down its Internet altogether.

The use of Blue Coat’s technology in Syria was revealed last month when the hacker group Telecomix exfiltrated and analyzed 54 gigabytes of data from a device in Syria. Blue Coat later admitted to the Wall Street Journal that its devices were in Syria, but claimed they had found their way to the country through sales to Iraq via the United Arab Emirates, and that the company hadn’t been aware of its gear’s presence in Syria. ”We don’t want our products to be used by the government of Syria or any other country embargoed by the United States,” Blue Coat executive Steve Daheb, told the Journal, adding that Blue Coat was “saddened by the human suffering and loss of human life” in Syria.

Some have expressed skepticism about Blue Coat’s ignorance of Syria’s use of its devices. “Bet you anything that the Syrian Blue Coat products are registered, and that they receive all the normal code and filter updates,” wrote security guru and blogger Bruce Schneier.

Blue Coat is only the latest Internet firm to face criticism for–wittingly or unwittingly–supplying dictators with tools for controlling and exploiting the Internet. Narus, a cybersecurity and digital surveillance subsidiary of Boeing, was found to have sold technology to the Libyan government. Cisco sold network censorship and spying gear to China. And a trio of other firms, American NetApp, French Qosmos, and German Ultimaco all had their technology used by the Italian firm Area SpA to set up a vast surveillance system in Syria.

While only some of those cases potentially violate U.S. trade restrictions, those companies’ ethical problems may be far more serious, says Jillian York, director of international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s not about export controls,” she says. “Even if Blue Coat didn’t sell to Syria, they say they were selling to the UAE and Iraq, countries that also use these tools for unlawful surveillance and have no privacy controls.”

Citizen Lab’s Deibert says legal restrictions on trade can only go so far, particularly when non-U.S. companies offer competing products. “Legislation can only apply within jurisidations,” he says. “This really requires the media and researchers to lift the lid on the Internet and find out what goes on beneath the surface.”

Source : http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/11/09/researchers-spot-blue-coat-web-control-gear-in-another-bad-regime-burma/

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Interview of newly-freed dissident comedian, Zarganar

Reporters Without Borders is posting a video interview with the comedian and blogger Zarganar, who was freed from Myitkyina prison on 12 October under a government amnesty.

After more than three years in detention, Zarganar has clearly not abandoned his right to express his views freely. In this interview, he talks about his blog and the consequences of the entries he posted in it. He also talks about the political prisoners who have not been freed, including such bloggers and writers as Zaw Thet Htwe and Nay Phone Latt.



Many journalists, bloggers and other prisoners of conscience were, like Zaw Thet Htwe and Nay Phone Latt, left out of the government amnesty. Democratic Voice of Burma’s 17 video journalists are all still held.

As part of its “Free Burma VJ” campaign for the release of its 17 journalists, Democratic Voice of Burma has just published a legal analysis of the cases of five of them. It highlights abusive practices, violations of free expression and freedom of association, use of torture and use of legal ploys to crack down on the regime’s opponents. Click here for the full analysis.

Original source : http://en.rsf.org/birmanie-interview-of-newly-freed-dissident-17-10-2011,41215.html

Friday, September 16, 2011

Banned websites in Burma accessible again

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Most of the previously banned websites in Burma including foreign-based news websites can again be directly accessed.

A Burmese Internet user accesses the Mizzima website in Rangoon. Many previously banned sites are now available again. Photo: Mizzima

On Thursday, Mizzima's Burmese and English language websites were accessible for users of the public Internet service provider Yadanabon Teleport. However, the ban continued for Mizzima websites on the state-run ISP, Myanmar Post and Telegraph.

The websites of the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma and the Thailand-based Irrawaddy can be visited directly through the Internet providers MPT and Yadanabon Teleport.

The bans on websites for RFA, BBC and VOA, which also have Burmese language sections, were lifted. Blogger, YouTube, Hotmail and Yahoo, which were blocked, are now accessible. Foreign news websites such as The Guardian, Bangkok Post, Reuters and CNN can now be accessed.

Although many news and other websites have been banned since the 2007 army crackdown on demonstrations, many Internet users in Burma used proxy servers to access the sites.

“They may want to know how many people access these websites when they are accessible. Moreover, here [in Burma], in every case, when they open and close them [they make changes and put them back into their original condition],” said a Rangoon-based editor.

The speed of the Internet has decreased and is only 10 kbps in some locations.

“I tried to log in to Gtalk 30 minutes ago, but I can still not get in,” an Internet café owner in South Okkalapa Township said.

The highest Internet speed in Burma is just 512 kbps. Burma has plans to increase the speed up to 1 mbps.

Burma now has more than 400,000 Internet users and 802 registered Public Access Centres (PACs), according to statistics issued by Myanmar Info Tech in February 2011.

The government imposes restrictions when granting a PAC license that bans visiting foreign-based news and media websites. PACs are responsible for controlling leaks of news and information that could undermine state security. It is not clear whether any of those rules and regulations have been revoked or changed.

Source : Mizzima

Friday, September 9, 2011

Burma still needs censorship: Information Minister

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Censorship of the Burmese media is still needed and freedom should not be granted to newspapers and journals at this time, Information and Culture Minister Kyaw Hsan told the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday.

The minister made his comments in reply to a motion “to enact a law which can protect the rights to freedom of expression and opinion by the media and the right to disseminate and publish the news” by Rangoon Region Thingangyun constituency MP Thein Nyunt during deliberations.

The state-run Burmese language newspaper, New Light of Myanmar, reported that Kyaw Hsan said: “Although laws and courts have come into operation in Myanmar, press scrutiny still plays a role. If media personnel face their problems in court under the law, their losses may be heavier. In its control tasks, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division may sometimes issue only warnings to the offenders and negotiate with both sides. Therefore, the division scrutinizes inappropriate writing against the nation and the people under the law for the sake of those from the literary world and the people.

“Media people should not try to express and publish disorderly information like they did in the 1988 unrest. Everyone must bear in mind that fabricated news resulted from the misuse of freedom and led to catastrophic events across the nation.”

On condition of anonymity, an MP said: “He said that our democracy movement is not yet mature and it still needs experience. So it still needs control.”

House speaker Thura Shwe Hman interrupted the minister's long speech because he took much time in replying to the motion, the MP added.

The Ministry of Information has already sent the media law bill and laws amending existing media laws to the Union Attorney General Office for suggestions, prompting MPs to put the motion moved by MP Thein Nyunt on the record.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Is Burma China's Satellite State? The Answer is Yes

President Thein Sein, a former military general and protégé of dictator Snr Gen Than Shwe, is on a three-day state visit to China to pay a formal courtesy call to the leaders in Beijing and to cement what is fast becoming a strong relationship.

Aung Zaw is founder
and editor of
the Irrawaddy magazine.
He can be reached
at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org.
Indeed, we should not forget the historical relationship between the two countries: in 1949, Burma was one of the first countries to recognize the People's Republic of China.

But that doesn't mean that the relationship has always been smooth sailing.

Anti-Chinese riots were widespread in Burma in 1967, while for its part, China played an active role in supporting communist insurgents in Burma.

We must not forget that Beijing has at times played tough with the incompetent generals of Burma, most notably during the Kokang Crisis in August 2009 when Beijing reprimanded Burma over the instability at their common border when some 37,000 refugees fled into Chinese territory.

Beijing was reportedly enraged, and Burma quickly dispatched high-ranking officials to mend the fence.

On the issue of trade and investment, China plays a key role—extracting natural resources from Burma's ethnic states.

China made huge investments in hydropower, oil and gas, totaling $8.17 billion, Xinhua reported last year, citing the regime’s own statistics.

Indeed, by the end of March this year, China's investment in Burma has risen to US $15.5 billion from $12.3 billion at the end of 2010.

There is no doubt that the Chinese invasion of Burma is visible in the growing numbers of Chinese migrants and businessmen in Burma's second largest city, Mandalay, as well as in Shan and Kachin States where they have opened shops and businesses, and regularly buy land.

It is believed that over the last 20 years, hundreds of thousands of Chinese have migrated to Burma. Many of them have obtained Burmese nationality cards through corrupt immigration officials. China's persistent presence in Burma is significant—many local Burmese have begun learning Mandarin to help secure jobs, prompting a joke in Burma that the future leaders of the country will be fluent in Chinese next time they visit Beijing.

Shortly after the Burmese military crushed a pro-democracy movement 22 years ago, China was one of the first neighboring countries to back the newly installed junta, providing it with arms, jet fighters, naval ships and ammunition. Since then, its unwavering support for the regime in Burma has only grown.

Before 1988, China had supported and financed hardcore Burmese communist insurgents that waged bloody civil war against the Burmese regime.

China’s strategic shift toward Burma shows a more pragmatic approach than its previous ideological war.
Indeed, sadly, the policy shift does nothing more than preserve the brutal regime in Burma, and plays a destructive role toward Burma’s embattled democracy movement.

Outside of Burma, Beijing’s policy toward Naypyidaw has raised heated debate between pro-sanctions and anti-sanctions groups. The argument now is that it is time to counter China's growing political and business clout in Burma. Western companies and governments feel that this is all just a case of too little, too late—time to follow Beijing’s footsteps.

Li Junhua, the current Chinese ambassador to Burma, told Xinhua news agency that Thein Sein’s state visit would certainly push the two countries' strategic and mutually beneficial cooperation toward a new high.

Burma’s military leaders often call China their “most important friendly neighbor,” and they can now continue to develop their strategic relations with Beijing after putting to bed November's general election.

But it takes two to tango—Beijing realized that Naypyidaw has much to offer.

Burma has offered strategic access to the Bay of Bengal. Underlining this deepening strategic cooperation, Chinese naval ships last year made a port call for the first time in Burmese territorial waters.

During his visit, Thein Sein is expected to discuss in depth the issue of China's navy docking in Burmese ports, and the Chinese desire to provide naval protection for its oil and gas facilities at the Burmese seaport of Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal.

Informed sources have said that Chinese officials are not suggesting a Chinese navy base in Burma, but simply having the permission to dock their warships at Burma's ports while they are patrolling the Indian Ocean and Somali coast.

Returning from a counter-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean in August 2010, two warships, the Guangzhou and the Chaohu, docked at Thilawa Port, near Rangoon, for a five-day visit.

Other issues of mutual concern, such as border security, military relations and business agreements, are expected to take a back seat on this particular visit.

China has also played a friendly intermediary role between Burma and North Korea since the two countries formally restored diplomatic relations in 2007.

Interestingly, the previous regime’s secret military missions to North Korea were taken via China.
It can safely be said that Beijing approves of and backs Burma’s desire to develop military contacts with North Korea. Overall, it looks like China’s role as a big brother to Burma will continue, and we can foresee China and Burma developing deeper military ties.

China also protects Burma from the teeth of the UN Security Council.

Various Burmese military leaders have either quietly or openly expressed admiration for China’s economic growth—it is the model they want to follow in their quest for economic reform. In fact, they fondly talk about Shanghai’s skyscrapers, with no mention of New York.

No doubt then that China is an important ally for the repressive regime to fend off the scathing opinions of Western governments, which have long criticized the junta’s appalling human rights records and are now backing the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma. China protects the regime and bullies the Western critics to back off any Naypyidaw when it faces a crucial censure or resolution.

Since November's deeply flawed election has won international backing, Chinese officials will strengthen their hand with the confidence that Naypyidaw owes them, and that they have much more to gain from Burma’s new government.

Ambassador Li praised Thein Sein's first presidential speech delivered, suggesting that it provided a strong signal to the people of Burma and the international community that the new government will make greater efforts in developing the economy, speed up its rate of opening doors to the outside world, improve the living standards of its people, and strengthen the ties between different nationalities based on foundations laid by the previous government.

Li told Xinhua that Burma’s new government is more self-confident and more active diplomatically, after seeing Thein Sein at the Asean Summit in Indonesia.

Consequently, as Beijing spreads its wings of influence in Asia, Thein Sein's visit will be seen as an important step in ensuring that close neighbor Burma remains a strategic ally in the foreseeable future.

It doesn’t matter to Beijing how many political prisoners are being locked up or how many ethnic minorities are slaughtered in the ongoing civil war in Burma—as long as the regime is stable, and China’s national interests are untouched.

To Chinese, as the saying goes—it doesn't matter whether it is a white cat or a black cat, as long as it can catch mice.

Friday, May 27, 2011

China Mobile seeks opportunities in Myanmar

China Mobile Ltd, the world’s largest mobile operator by market value, is seeking acquisition opportunities in emerging markets such as Myanmar to expand its foothold overseas, its chairman said on May 19.

The dominant mobile carrier in China invested around US$300 million last year in Pakistan, where the telecom sector has boomed over the past decade with around 100 million mobile phone subscribers.

China Mobile has already hit around 10 million subscribers in Pakistan, “and if we can break even next year, that will certainly give us more confidence to invest in emerging markets”, Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile, told a news conference after a shareholders’ meeting.

China Mobile has been trying to make inroads in overseas markets, though not all its attempts have been successful.

Its move to purchase a 12 percent stake in Taiwan’s Far Eastone process has been stalled due to the Taiwan government’s worries over national security.

Wang also said the company would not be issuing new shares if it decided to list A-shares in China, but gave no further details.

“We don’t need the money. We have enough cash,” Wang said.

Within its home market, China Mobile plans to spend around 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) this year to expand its Wi-Fi network, he said.

Like peers China Unicom and China Telecom Corp, China Mobile has been trying to reverse a decline in average revenue per user (ARPU) by attracting more users to value-added mobile services.

On May 19, company executives said they expected the company’s ARPU to fall further, in line with analysts’ views, as many users were from the lower end of the market in the country’s rural areas.

– Reuters

In Yangon, phone etiquette falls short

As mobile phone use increases in
Myanmar, understanding of
phone etiquette will become
ever more crucial.
 A FEW minutes before the seminar begins, the master of ceremonies reminds the audience that it’s time to start paying attention. As the first speaker takes to the stage, a mobile phone begins ringing noisily from amid the hundreds of people in the crowd. Its volume is only matched by the voice of the man who answers it; his words echo loudly off the walls of the ballroom in which the seminar is being held.

“Hello, I am at the Traders. Hello, can you hear me? … Traders. Ok.”

The audience struggles to pay attention to the speaker, who appears to share their discomfort. Whenever a phone begins ringing – a regular occurrence – he seems to lose his place on the sheets of paper in front of him.

While mobile phones are not as ubiquitous here as in Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore, there were more than two million in operation as of January 2011, according to the telecommunications ministry. Recently, the government announced plans to increase that to 30 million lines over the next five years.

With increased mobile phone use, an understanding of mobile phone etiquette will become ever more crucial.

Unfortunately, it seems many have little or no idea about this valuable concept.

A few of its most essential points include:

1) Switch off a mobile phone when there is a “Please turn off your mobile phone” sign present. These are most frequently found in museums, exhibitions and cinemas.

2) Put your mobile phone on silent mode or divert calls to voicemail during a meeting. While working in an office, do not forget to take your mobile phone with you wherever you go. This will allow people to contact you at all times, and your colleagues will not be distracted by your phone ringing when you have left it on your desk.

3) Try to avoid talking on the phone while driving. This is a potential cause of traffic accidents.

4) Choose a ring tone that is pleasant not only for you but other people.

5) When using your phone in a public place, such as a shopping centre, on public transport or in an elevator, try to speak quietly and briefly so as not to disturb others with your conversation.

6) Remember that it’s not polite to use somebody’s phone or give their mobile phone number to a third party without permission.

While some may be deliberately flaunting these rules, it is likely most have no idea that a code of etiquette exists. Nevertheless, it is simple common sense: If it bothers you when someone else answers their phone in a cinema, then surely you should put your own mobile phone on silent.

Ma Thuzar Win, a 29-year-old employee of a Yangon-based pharmaceutical company, said she thought most people had never heard of mobile phone etiquette, and those who have mostly ignore it.

“People do not know they have to put their mobile phone into silent mode in a meeting, seminar or class. It is really disappointing for other people when a mobile phone rings in these situations,” she said.

“It is really inappropriate when people loudly answer their phone in a seminar. We cannot pay attention to the topic. They should keep silent and if they need to answer the phone then they should leave the room.”

Ma Nadi Htike, who works for an advertising company, said the most disturbing example of poor mobile phone etiquette occurs when people answer their phone loudly while watching a movie at the cinema.

“We go to the cinema for entertainment. But because of the phones ringing all the time, I can’t watch the movie pleasantly, in peace and quiet. People should use silent mode.”

In March, the Yangon Region Traffic Rules Enforcement Supervisory Committee announced that motorists were failing to heed warnings that the use of a mobile phone while driving increased the likelihood of traffic accidents occurring.

A committee official said if the driver of a vehicle needed to answer their phone they should pull over to the side of the road and stop the car.

“Sometimes, people get angry or upset when they are told something on the phone,” which can distract them while driving. “So we have warned car drivers not to talk on the phone while driving.”

Figure released by the committee show that in January there were 48 car accidents attributed to careless driving – mostly when a motorist came to grief while using a phone – up from 38 in December 2010.

Source : http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/timeout/576/timeout57601.html

Internet cafés must reapply for a business license

All Burmese ‘public access centre’ Internet cafes have been ordered to reapply for a  business license from the state-owned Myanmar Post and Telegraph (MPT), according to an MPT official.

Previously, Internet cafes had to apply to Myanmar Info Tech and Yadanabon Teleport, but MPT took over the process in April 2011. It issued an advisory to all Internet cafes to reapply within 30 days starting April 25. However, some of the Internet cafes did not receive the advisory, sources said.

The advisory said a fine of 30,000 kyat (US$ 36.58) per month may be issued or a license revoked if annual fees and dues are not paid within 90 days of the expiration date.

License fees can be paid at the Naypyitaw and Rangoon Division Directorate of Communication, or, in states and regions at postal offices.

License fees have been lowered. Previously, Internet cafes paid 500,000 kyat ($610) for initial fees for installation of cables and equipment, an annual fee of 600,000 kyat at the rate of 50,000 kyat per month. MPT now charges 500,000 kyat ($610) for installation and an annual fee of 360,000 ($440) at the rate of 30,000 kyat ($36.58) per month.

According to the most recent data, there are 802 Internet cafes registered with Myanmar Info Tech. A total of 584 cafes are in the Rangoon municipal area, 21 in Mandalay and 197 in other towns and cities.

All Internet cafes are instructed to register a customer’s name, contact address, phone number and ID number, or a passport number for foreigners. The information is sent to the Directorate of Communication monthly.

Cafes are also required to block banned software and programmes on their computers and they are subject to inspection by the authorities.

MPT has issued a ban on using floppy drives, CD drives, USB ports and other external drives in computers.

Internet cafes are responsible for monitoring and blocking information which can jeopardize state secrets and state interests. Violation of the regulation carries a maximum prison term of five years under the Official Secrets Act.

Computer users are frequently charged under section 33(a) of Electronics Law Act which carries a maximum prison term of 15 years. More than 40 people have been imprisoned under this act including blogger Nay Phone Latt and comedian Zargana, according to the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP-B).

Recently, former army captain Nay Myo Zin, who worked with the South Dagon Township blood donation group, was arrested and charged under the Electronics Law Act.

Source : http://www.mizzima.com/business/5333-internet-cafes-must-reapply-for-a-business-license.html

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Surveillance of media and Internet stepped up under new civilian president

Press freedom and online freedom of information are still being flouted in Burma, three months after Thein Sein’s election as a civilian president. He promised to “respect the role of the media” but heavy jail sentences for journalists, suspension of newspapers and police raids on Internet cafés show that there has been no let-up in controls and intimidation. And now a string of new measures have just tightened control over Internet use.

“Thein Sein announced a general amnesty on 16 April for prisoners sentenced to death but there has been no pardon for Burma’s 2,000 political prisoners,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The regime’s professions of good intentions aim to deflect attention from recent measures designed to reinforce restrictions on news and information.

“The authorities clearly fear that the Arab Spring could spread. The new regulations are intended to intimidate Burmese Internet users and cut them off from the outside world. It is unacceptable that Burma is reacting in this way while chairing ASEAN, whose charter mentions respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice.”

The press freedom organization added: “We urge ASEAN’s members including Indonesia, which takes over its presidency this year, to put pressure on Burma to adhere to this regional organization’s principles.”

Reporters Without Borders learned last week that the Burmese government’s censorship bureau, called the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), has suspended the Rangoon-based weekly True News for two weeks – supposedly for misreporting a mobile phone offer by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs (MCPT).

According to the exile news outlet Irrawaddy, the MCPT objected to a report quoting its chief telecommunications engineer, Zaw Min Oo, as saying anyone who owned a GSM mobile phone, which retail for 1.5 million kyat (US $1,830), would be able to get a second one for just 50,000 kyat ($60). But a True News reporter who requested anonymity said other articles published by weekly were the real reason for the suspension.

At the same time, the MCPT has just sent a new set of rules to Internet cafés, which were already subject to draconian regulations imposed by the ministry, including a requirement to keep the personal data of all their clients along with a record of all the websites they visit, and make it available to the authorities.

The new set of directives includes a ban on the use of portable hard disks, USB flash drives and CDs in Internet cafés, and a ban on the use of Internet telephony (VoIP) services to call abroad. The grounds given by the ministry is the need to protect the state’s income from international phone calls but it will isolate dissidents more and discourage Internet users from expressing themselves freely. Above all, it will affect users of services such as Skype, Gtalk, Pfingo and VZO, which are hard to monitor for the authorities.

Reporters Without Borders has obtained a copy of the directives, which were emailed to Internet cafés earlier this month. How they will be implemented is not always clear:


































Rules for Owners of Public Access Centres

1. Personal information of PAC users such as name, National Registration Card number, passport number (if the user is a foreigner), contact address, telephone number etc. must be registered.

2. Service Records of all PAC users (date, time, screen shot, URLs) must be submitted once a month to the Directorate of Communication.

3. Utilizing Internet for international phone calls is prohibited as it is illegal and not permitted by the Department of Communication.

4. PACs are not allowed to use software, programs and technologies banned by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Directorate of Communication and Department of Communication. PACs must also make sure that such software, programs and technologies are not utilized by their customers.

5. PAC users must be informed by means of written notice that cyber crimes (hacking, virus distribution, port scanning etc.) and viewing, copying and distributing of media that is not in line with Myanmar culture are prohibited.

6. Computers at the PACs are not allowed to have floppy drive, CD drive, USB port and other external drives.

7. PAC license holders are obliged to permit inspections by PAC service providers, and officials from the ministry and the directorate, and local authorities.

8. Leasing or transferring of PAC license is prohibited. Owners can apply permission from the directorate if they wish to change the location of PAC or technologies used.

9. Owners may submit application to renew PAC license 30 days prior to the expiry date. Renewal fee / annual fee has to be prepaid. Owners who failed to pay in time will be fined 30,000 kyats per every delayed month. License will be revoked if required payment is not made within 90 days.

10. In case of lost or damage of the original document (license), a copy of it may be issued against payment.

11. Computer Development Law must be observed and restrictions stipulated by Ministry of Post and Telecommunication’s WAN-order no. 3/2002 must be followed. Orders and instructions made by the government, ministries, Department of Communication and Directorate of Communication must be observed. Perpetrators will not only have their PAC license revoked but also be punished according to the existing laws.

12. Information that could harm State’s security and interest must not be leaked. Perpetrators who leak such information will be punished with State Secret Act.

At the end of 2010, the authorities gave themselves the means to cut off the public’s Internet access during any social or political crisis without having to disconnect themselves at the same time. A reorganization of Internet Service Providers, billed as major step forward, has enabled the authorities to increase online surveillance and repression while improving the quality of their own Internet connections.

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association released an exclusive report on the subject, entitled “National Web portal – development or repression,” last November.

Burma’s Internet legislation is long been one of the most repressive in the world. Under the 1996 Electronic Act, which covers the Internet, TV and radio, importing, owning or using a modem without an official permit is punishable by up to 15 years in prison as a “violation of state security, national unity, culture, the national economy, law and order.”

Three netizens – Zarganar, Nay Phone Latt and Kaung Myat Hlaing (also known as "Nat Soe") – are still serving long jail sentences for expressing their views freely online.

Burma is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Enemies of the Internet.” Amnesty International puts the number of Burmese political prisoners at more than 2,200. They include 17 video journalists (VJ) employed by the exile TV and radio station Democratic Voice of Burma, which recently launched a campaign for their release with support from Reporters Without Borders.

Source : http://en.rsf.org/burma-surveillance-of-media-and-internet-17-05-2011,40296.html

Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Internet in Chin State

The number of Internet cafes set up in towns across Chin State has been on the increase in recent years although the electricity provided by the local authorities still remains highly 'limited and unreliable'.
At least 30 high street cybercafés are currently opened to provide Internet access to the public in major towns, with 15 in Hakha, 5 each in Tedim and Falam, 4 in Thantlang, and 1 in Tonzang, according to Chinland Guardian's sources.

However, there is no public internet access available in Mindat, Kanpetlet and Paletwa towns in southern parts of Chin State, except for the one at an Anglican Bishop Office in Paletwa, which is meant for office use only.

Sources claim that there is at least one Internet cafe open to public in Matupi town, reportedly set up since 2007.

Public Internet Access

In Chin State, public access to Internet was first made possible in the mid 2000s. Since 2006, Internet cafes were set up under the direct control of the military authorities in Chin State, according to Khonumthung News.

A travel diary posted on www.myanmar2day.com by an individual identified as Bamarlay noted: "The first time I travelled to Hakha was in 2004, December. It was cold, dark and wet. The city was constantly under blackout, and there was no internet connection."

The Burmese traveller said that Internet was still unheard of for most people in May 2005 and that one internet cafe was opened in 2007 in Hakha, the capital of Chin State.

Military-monitored Internet has been used in government offices in Chin State since the early 2000s and a public Internet with very limited access was believed to be first available in Hakha in late 2005, according to other sources.

In Hakha, all of the Internet Cafes are using an ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) service, a type of broadband communications technology that gives faster connection speed, with only one shop using an IP-Star Internet connection, according to one of the local Internet Cafes owners.

It was only in 2002 that people in Burma, especially in Rangoon and Mandalay, got access to the Internet, provided by Bagan Cyber Tech, the first and only Internet service provider in Burma, although Myanmar Post and Telecommunication Ministry (MPT) had introduced a dial-up Internet service in 1999, with customers mainly from business groups and government ministries.

Bagan Cyber Tech also introduced IP-Star Internet connection in 2003.

Electricity Problem

Problems with government-run electricity have been no better, according to local Internet owners.

"We have electricity twice a week at night and its power is not strong enough to run a machine. So all of the cybercafés have got to have an electricity generator day and night," an Internet Cafe owner from Hakha told Chinland Guardian.

Another local from Thantlang Town said the electricity, although the monthly bill is paid, is not usable for running a machine, adding: "It is not regular and it is on only twice a week at night."

Bamarlay also highlighted the experience during the second trip made to Hakha in May 2005 that the blackout was worse then, with no electricity for the whole city at all for the whole day.

In Hakha, one gallon of diesel used for running an electric generator costs 5,300 kyats.

Fee and Connection

An hourly fee for using Internet is charged differently in Chin State, with only 5,00 kyats in Tedim, 1,000 in Tonzang and Thantlang, and between 500 and 1,000 in Falam, and Hakha.

Sources revealed that local internet users were charged around 3,000 to 4,000 kyats per hour when Internet cafes were first set up in late 2006.

Most of the cybercafé owners stressed that the amount of fees charged for using Internet depends mainly on the cost of fuel in towns.

In 2007, the Internet connection speed was painfully slow, and the cost was 2,000 kyats per hour while a normal fee in Rangoon was only 400 kyats an hour at that time, according to Bamarlay, who added: "Well, at least you are connected now."

There were reports of Internet connections being interrupted or cut off across the country during Burma's recent elections in 2010.

Local Users

With an increasing number of Chin people migrating into other countries, the Internet technology has dramatically attracted local users to keep in touch with family members, relatives and friends abroad.

Quite often, local internet users in Chin State faced new restriction and warning against visiting any anti-government websites and sending political emails or letters out.

A pastor from southern parts of Chin State, Rev. Shwekey Hoipang, currently based in the UK, said: "It is good that we now have internet services in Chin State. However, people in the south still have utmost difficulties in communication as there are only one or two Internet cafes for thousands of people in hundreds of villages."

It is estimated that Chin State has a total population of about 502,683, with 12 towns and 1,353 villages, 472 village tracts in nine townships, according to statistics by Ministry of Home Affairs in December 2004.

Chin State has been isolated and cut off communications from the outside world for decades. Till today, no tourists have been allowed to travel into the mountainous northwestern state of Burma, without a special permit to be obtained from the military authorities.

Source : http://www.chinlandguardian.com/news-2009/1308-the-internet-in-chin-state.html

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Burmese exile news site endures hacking, DDoS attacks

By Shawn W. Crispin/CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative

Like other Burmese exile-run media, the Irrawaddy has been plagued by numerous denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in recent years that have forced its website to be shut down. Now, Aung Zaw, the publication's founder and editor, believes Burma's military-backed regime has adopted a new cyber-attack strategy that aims to undermine the exile media's credibility among readers.

Earlier this year, unknown hackers penetrated the Irrawaddy's central computer system and planted false news on its website's front page claiming that a popular Burmese film star had died. The bogus report sparked a protest from the still living actress and an outcry among readers about the inaccuracy before editorial staff could delete the posting and issue an explanation.

Aung Zaw told CPJ he fears the damage from the attack may have been wider reaching, potentially jeopardizing the identity of secret in-country sources and contributors. He says the hackers first breached the Irrawaddy's central computer system using password-cracking software two weeks prior to planting the false story.

"Tons of confidential information was exposed when our site was hacked," said Aung Zaw during a recent interview with CPJ. "We assume they were reading our day-to-day messages."

After the attack, Aung Zaw said the Irrawaddy hired Internet security experts in Europe to audit the extent of the security breach. The experts were able to track one of the IP addresses of an apparent team of hackers to London. They used proxy servers in China in a circuitous bid to conceal their location.

The audit also showed that the IP address for the hacker who planted the false story had, two weeks earlier, amended for accuracy several sections on the Burmese military's Wikipedia page. Aung Zaw said the amendments demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the military's structure and symbols, including the number of stripes and other insignia on obscure military decorations.

Burma's military-backed regime has never publicly taken responsibility for the various DDoS attacks that have anonymously debilitated Burmese exile media in recent years. Nor has anyone acknowledged orchestrating the recent cyber-attack against the Irrawaddy--though Aung Zaw notes that many former soldiers and other regime allies are known to reside in the United Kingdom, Burma's former colonial ruler.

The Irrawaddy has since upgraded its computer system's security and, with help from outside experts, is actively guarding against a similar future attack. Nonetheless, hackers have attempted in recent weeks to breach an Irrawaddy database and, in another instance, posed as one of Aung Zaw's China-based contacts while messaging on Facebook.

"Whoever they are, they're getting more clever and more dangerous," said Aung Zaw.

(Reporting from Chiang Mai, Thailand)

Original source : http://www.cpj.org/blog/2011/05/burmese-exile-news-site-endures-hacking-ddos-attac.php

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Freedom House: Internet in Burma is 'Not Free'

Burma ranked second to last in Internet freedom in a report called “Freedom on the Net 2011,” released on Monday by information watchdog Freedom House.
Two Buddhist monks go online at an Internet cafe in Rangoon  
where owners are required to keep records of all users. (Photo: AFP)


While utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs) for its own business and propaganda purposes, the Burmese regime aggressively regulates access to the Internet by its citizens and punishes them for online activity that is seen as detrimental to the junta's security, according to the Freedom House report, which surveys the current ICTs situation and trends in Internet freedom in Burma and 37 other countries.

“There has been gradual improvement in access to ICTs over the past three years, but the [Burmese] junta has also aggressively targeted users who are involved in anti-government activities or have contact with foreign news media,” the Washington-based information watchdog said in its report.

Cyber attacks, politically motivated censorship and government control over Internet infrastructure are among the growing threats to Internet freedom, the Freedom House report said.

executive director of Freedom House. "Nondemocratic regimes are devoting more attention and resources to censorship and other forms of interference with online expression."

Freedom House, a non-governmental organization, was founded in 1941 and conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. The organization publishes an annual report each year.

Freedom on the Net 2011” follows a pilot edition that was released in 2009. The report evaluates Internet freedom in each of the 37 countries based on barriers to access, limitations on content and violations of users' rights.

There are two main Internet service providers in Burma: Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) and Yatanarpon. According to the Freedom House report, the military regime controls the Internet infrastructure in two ways: total shutdowns and temporary reductions in bandwidth to slow the flow of information.

Chart: The Economist

“Yatanarpon Teleport blocks almost all Burmese exiles and foreign Burmese-language media outlets and blogs, as well as the sites of dozens of foreign newspapers and television networks,” said the report. “It also blocks the websites of international human rights groups.”

The report also highlighted the fact that only one percent of Burma's population of 53.4 million are Internet users and the over 520 registered cyber cafés are located mainly in a few major cities.

Although there is now over 10,000 blogs by Burmese nationals, only 52 percent of Burmese bloggers write from Burma and the rest write from abroad.

Since its 2007 crackdown on the “Saffron Revolution” led by Buddhist monks, the military regime has more strictly enforced the ownership of cyber cafés and required them to monitor users’ screens and cooperate with criminal investigations.

Both online and off-line censorship and information controls increased surrounding the November 7, 2010 national elections, and Internet connections were interrupted between late October and the end of December 2010.

The junta also set up a “Blog Supervising Committee” in every government ministry in late 2007, and instructed civil servants to write pro-government blogs to counter outside bloggers and foreign or exile media, and to attack democracy activists like Aung San Suu Kyi.

Many leading exile websites—including The Irrawaddy, Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma, and New Era Journal—have been temporarily shut down by hackers since 2008. All of the attacks to date have been distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Military sources inside Burma said that the junta has dispatched officers to Singapore, Russia, and North Korea for information-technology training, and that these officers are assigned to monitor e-mail messages and telephone conversations and to hack opposition websites.

China also provides training and assistance, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The regime has promulgated three laws regarding ICTs: the Computer Science Development Law that made possession of an unregistered computer modems and connection to unauthorized computer networks punishable by up to 15 years in prison; the Wide Area Network Law; and the Electronic Transactions Law, under which Internet users face prison terms of 7 to 15 years, and possible fines, for “any act detrimental to,” and specifically “receiving or sending and distributing any information relating to,” state security, law and order, community peace and tranquility, national solidarity, the national economy, or national culture.

The new Constitution, drafted by the junta and approved in a highly-criticized 2008 referendum, does not guarantee Internet freedom.

The Freedom House report found that Estonia had the greatest degree of Internet freedom among the 37 countries examined, while the United States ranked second. Iran received the lowest score in the analysis and Burma received the second lowest. Eleven countries received a ranking of “Not Free,” including Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

Source :  http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21135&page=1

Monday, March 21, 2011

Will the Internet help trigger the next uprising in Burma?

Rangoon (Mizzima) - As the Internet and social media spread news of civil unrest and demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, the military junta in Burma is afraid that the young generation here will follow suit. All news is suppressed and–as the best indicator of the junta’s concerns–Internet speed is down to a trickle.

But can the Internet-driven revolution in the Middle East really be replicated in Burma? If we take a close look at the situation in Burma, and look at its rather unique characteristics and backwardness, we see that there is little chance of the Internet playing a significant role in stirring up anti-government protests. If there is to be radical change, other factors will have to come into play.

Let’s look at the Internet and communications in Burma. Internet access is largely confined to the two major cities, Rangoon and Mandalay. Most of the Internet usage takes place in Internet cafes, which under government regulation have had to install URL-tracking software and CCTV cameras to keep customers under close surveillance. It goes almost without saying that all Internet outlets prohibit access to banned and blocked sites.

The number of Internet users reflects Burma’s depressing reality. In 2010, only 110,000 users or 0.2 percent of a population of 55 million Burmese used the Internet, whereas in China 30 percent of the population uses the Internet regularly. Even taking the most optimistic claim that there are a total of 500,000 users in the country shows the dire picture. And using the Internet as an information source is very limited. All sites and pages critical of the regime are banned and blocked, including the seemingly innocent pages of the Financial Times and the Bangkok Post, and, most importantly, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook can be viewed but being able to send messages from one’s Facebook account is like winning the lottery–mostly the sent messages do not get sent.

Internet Usage and Population Statistics:


YEAR
Users Population % Pen. GDP p.c.* Usage Source
2000 1,000 54,021,571 0.002 % US$ N/A ITU.
2008 40,000 47,758,181 0.1 % US$ 479 ITU.
2009 108,900 48,137,741 0.2 % US$ 459 ITU.
2010 110,000 53,414,374 0.2 % US$ 469 ITU.







Note: Per Capita GDP in US dollars, source: International Monetary Fund.

Source: Internet World Stats, June 2010

Although young Internet users know how to access banned sites, government surveillance is frightening, the painstakingly slow Internet speed discouraging, and the frequent power blackouts very frustrating. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently had installed what is advertised as a ‘high-speed’ broadband Internet connection talked of the need ‘… to increase the Megabytes’.

Glass-fiber cables are being installed in Rangoon but the advertised capacity of 30 Mbps has never been experienced. The installation fee of US$ 990 and monthly charges of US$ 35-110 for one line are clearly outside the reach of ordinary citizens who live of an average income of about US$ 30 a month.

Other communication devices also illustrate the backwardness of Burma’s infrastructure. All around the world mobile phones are an essential part of daily life. Not so in Burma. The most favorable statistics estimate the mobile phone penetration at 3.7 percent of the total population, which equals 2 million phone users. This by any standard is ridiculously low. Mobile phones are prohibitively expensive and do not allow access to e-mail or the Internet. The few government controlled operators do not support international roaming and even the international SMS service is blocked. The market price of a GSM SIM card came down recently. A GSM SIM card without a handset is now US$ 1,400-1,600 on the black market. The official price for a SIM card is about US$ 170 but nobody is willing to sell at that price. A new scheme has been announced in which pre-paid CDMA SIM cards will sell for US$ 600. But let’s see what the market price will be.

Even fixed-line phones are an unaffordable luxury. Only a small number of households have a phone line. The monthly rent for an average apartment in Rangoon is about 50 percent higher if it comes with a phone line compared to an apartment without an installed phone. The latest official data talk of 1 percent penetration.

The government does everything it can to keep its population in the dark by restricting what is shown on TV and in the press. As more than 80 percent of Burma’s GNP is generated in the agricultural sector and most of the population lives in villages and agricultural areas, no sources of information are available other than the government approved TV and press. Of course, the national press and the government TV do not report anything about the protests and uprisings in the Middle East. Fortunately, in the major cities and hotels across the country satellite TV is available although it is not officially allowed. The subscription costs are about US$ 400 a year.

Given these depressing statistics, the Burmese government does not have to be afraid of an uprising triggered by the Internet and social media.

Given the unlikelihood of an Internet-sparked uprising, what will it take to bring Burmese onto the streets as seen in 1988 or the monk-led “Saffron Revolution” of 2007?

It is dangerous to make comparisons with the Middle East. The major differences between the Arab countries and Burma make it very hard to imagine another uprising in Burma in the near future. Although the share of young and unemployed is higher in Burma than in the Middle East, the culture and education could hardly be more different. Western and Islamic nations have grown up in the Christian or Islamic tradition of violent conflict solution over the last 1,000 to 2,000 years. In contrast, 90 percent of the Burmese population is Buddhist, a culture that at heart is more peace-loving and less violent.

Many of the leaders of the Middle East protests have been educated at schools and universities in Britain, France or the United States, whereas only a handful of Burmese students have studied abroad and even fewer are willing to return home after finishing their education. The formal school education in Burma has gone downhill since the private and missionary schools were nationalized in 1965. The quality of school and university education is catastrophic and has resulted in generations of poorly educated students without any political mindset.

Most importantly, the violent military crackdowns of the earlier uprisings in 1988 and 2007 have left the Burmese population in fear. Many Burmese were afraid to listen to Aung San Suu Kyi’s first speech after her recent release from house arrest. They were afraid of being filmed by secret police, identified and later arrested at home at night as happened in the weeks after the 2007 demonstrations. Many young people refrain from any open defiance of the regime as their arrests could be followed by the arrests of ‘complicit’ family members. And the 2,200 political activists who still linger in prison are a constant remainder of the brutality of the regime.

Many Burma experts claim that cracks, discontent and envy among the military ranks might topple the ruling junta. But as past experience in Burma shows, a new military dictator is more likely to follow a military coup than a democratic revolution. The military has established a parallel society and economy with its own schools, universities, hospitals and living quarters. The military officers feel they are an elite class who are the only ones who can prevent the Union of Myanmar from disintegrating. They feel superior and look down on the people as lower class citizens.

The Burmese have learned after the mass demonstrations in 1988 that it is very hard to get rid of an old dictator, Ne Win, without inviting in a new one, General Than Shwe. This still echoes in a common Burmese saying: ‘Be careful when you kick out the old ruler, the new one might be worse’. This is certainly true for Burma. Will this be true for Tunisia, Egypt or Libya?

There is hope that the people in the Middle East will ultimately replace their authoritarian regimes. But in Burma, it is hard to look to the ‘new world’ of Facebook and Twitter to inspire a new uprising. If there is a spark, it may be more grounded. After all, it was a dramatic rise in petrol and food prices that sparked the revolt in 2007.

Mandalar Maung is a pseudonym for a foreign resident in Rangoon.

Source : http://mizzima.com/edop/commentary/5038-will-the-internet-help-trigger-the-next-uprising-in-burma.html

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Government bans Internet overseas calls

Bangkok (Mizzima) – The Burmese Telecommunication and Communication Ministry has issued a directive banning the use of the Internet for ‘voice over Internet protocol’ (VOIP) overseas calls.

A modern Internet cafe in Rangoon, one of
many appearing throughout the former capital. Photo :Mizzima
 The directive, dated March 2, 2011, was issued by Managing Director Tint Lwin of Myanmar Communication, Post and Telegraph Corporation, saying that overseas calls made through VOIPs such as Skype, Gtalk, Pfingo and VZO are incurring losses to government revenue.

 It was unclear what penalty would apply for people using such services or how the use of the services would be monitored.

The directive was sent to the chairman of Myanmar Info-Tech Corp. Ltd., which controls all Public Access Centres (PAC), or Internet cafes, across the country. The corporation reissued the directive and circulated it on March 10.

Internet cafe operators told Mizzima that Skype and Pfingo VOIP services are used most for making overseas calls by Burmese Internet users.

The overseas call charges (international direct dialing, or IDD) by government-run Myanmar Communication are too expensive for many users, and it must also be paid in Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC). The calls made over VOIP are only a fraction of the cost.

The overseas call (IDD) rate is FEC 4.5 (about 4,000 kyat; US$ 4) to the USA for the first minute; FEC 1.4 for Thailand (about 1,000 kyat). VOIP calls costs about 100 kyat (US$ 12 cents) per minute to the USA and 50 kyat (US$ 6 cents) per minute to Thailand.

The government sold pre-paid GSM SIM cards with cheaper call rates last year, and it was popular among the pubic. Since then, the government has stopped or restricted the sale of SIM cards since the November 2010 general election.

Internet café owners told Mizzima that they have not yet received any official communication about the ban.

There are two public Internet service providers (ISP) in Burma: Yadanapon Teleport and Myanmar Post and Telegraph (MPT).

The new directive will not affect a revenue loss for Internet café operators but only affect Internet users, an Internet café operator in Ahlone Township told Mizzima.

‘If they cannot make oversea calls through these VOIP services, they will instead use the Gtalk and Skype computer to computer service by making a pre-appointment with their friend or family members, since they will not be able to call directly to their phone’, said a café operator.

‘They must wait until their party is online. The internet connection is too slow here, so it will cause more inconveniences and difficulties for our customers’, he said.

Source :  http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5022-government-bans-internet-overseas-calls.html

Monday, March 14, 2011

The Irrawaddy Hacked

The hackers who posted two fake articles on the website of The Irrawaddy on Friday deliberately intended to “create confusion and misunderstanding,” and to discredit the news agency, said the senior editor at Thailand-based The Irrawaddy.

The hacker or hackers, whose identify is so far unknown, hijacked the English-language edition of the exile Burmese news group's website on Friday night and posted two false stories, both controversial articles, one intended to sow a misunderstanding between The Irrawaddy and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, and another falsely proclaiming that well-known Burmese pop singer May Sweet had died.

The first fabricated article that was inserted onto the site stated that  Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were responsible for the recent reduction in funding from international donors to The Irrawaddy and fellow exile news agency Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).

The Irrawaddy's founder and editor Aung Zaw on Monday said he believed the cyber attack was launched by a pro-military junta group or Naypyidaw's cyber warfare department.

“The intension of the attack is to damage the credibility of The Irrawaddy,” he said.

Over the past year, The Irrawaddy has exposed many illegal activities of the Burmese junta, including the fixing of November's general election, high-level corruption, nepotism, and the release of exclusive photos of secret military missions from Burma to North Korea.

“This is most likely why the junta has assigned technicians to attack our website,” Aung Zaw said.

Win Thu, the office manager of The Irrawaddy, admitted that there is a security weakness on the website and said he was trying to find the best solution to overcome the weakness.

“From the Web Content Management System (WCMS), the intruder posted two stories,” said Win Thu. “It is important to protect ourselves against such an intrusion. We are investigating who the culprits could be. According to the style of the writing, the culprits may be regular readers who know well the style and layout of  The Irrawaddy.”

A WCMS is a system designed to simplify the publication of web content to websites and mobile devices—in particular, allowing content creators to submit content without requiring technical knowledge of HTML or the uploading of files.

Many exile Burmese websites are hacked and defaced by hackers, said an IT expert, though this latest incident indicates that the people hired to do the job are getting more sophisticated in their approach.

“Rather than merely attacking the technical infrastructure of the site, as they have in the past with DDoS [Distributed Denial of Service] attacks, or infecting the servers that host the site with a virus, they may be targeting something more valuable—the news agency's reputation,” he said.

The second false article that was posted on the site carried the byline of Violet Cho, a former reporter for The Irrawaddy who left the company in 2009.

The article, that claimed that Burmese celebrity May Sweet had died, infuriated the singer who, not knowing the site had been hacked, launched an attack against The Irrawaddy on her Facebook account.

“I feel sorry for the persons who were mentioned in the fake articles, including May Sweet,” said Win Thu.

The websites of The Irrawaddy came under attack by a two-gigabyte DDoS in September, which shut down both its English and Burmese online editions. The sites were also disabled in September 2008 by a one-gigabyte DDoS attack.

Source : http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20931

Cyber war breaks new ground

By JOSEPH ALLCHIN

Fake articles were posted by a hacker on a popular exiled Burmese news website over the weekend in what may be a new tactic in the Burmese junta’s cyber offensive on independent media.

Irrawaddy chief Aung Zaw at
the daily editorial meeting (The Irrawaddy)
 One of the stories, published on the Thailand-based Irrawaddy site on Saturday, reported the death of popular Burmese singer May Sweet, while a second, and more divisive, piece was titled ‘Exiled Media outlets lose out on funding thanks to NLD’, referring to the opposition National League for Democracy, led by the revered Aung San Suu Kyi.

The article suggested that the NLD had encouraged funding cuts for exiled media that have forced a number of organisations, including the Irrawaddy and DVB, to cut programmes and fire staff. It quoted LSE academic Maung Zarni, who occasionally writes for both organisations, as questioning the Irrawaddy’s spending policies.

The story, which the Irrawaddy quickly flagged up as fictitious, went so far as to include made-up quotes from the organisation’s chief editor, Aung Zaw, who allegedly said that “Thanks to her [Aung San Suu Kyi’s] request Irrawaddy lost over 1 Million US Dollars in funding and DVB lost 500,000 Euros from their annual budget”.

The real Aung Zaw told DVB however that it is “clear that someone who has intelligence on the ground…has been assigned to write fake articles to cause damage to us; it’s very clear”. He added that he did not believe the perpetrator was based inside Burma.

The article also followed an editorial line consistent with that of the Burmese junta, which favours portraying exiled Burmese as living a lavish existence paid for by Western governments: “Only a fifth of the donated funds to the exiled media groups such as DVB and Irrawaddy were used for their intended purposes while the rest were being used to fund the chief editors’ lavish lifestyles.”

The executive director of DVB, Aye Chan Naing, added that it also fits with tactics that are seen in publications like the junta mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper, which he says have been “intentionally trying to sow misunderstanding”.

The attacks, if as is widely assumed were directed by the Burmese junta, present further evidence that as far as media freedom is concerned, nothing has changed since last year’s controversial election. These attacks have taken place whilst Australian national Ross Dunkley, the former editor of the Myanmar Times, the only in-country newspaper with foreign funding, stands trial on a number of charges.

Aye Chan Naing, who co-founded DVB in 1992, added that the attacks were “clever” in that they had appeared to the untrained eye as the real thing, and were intentionally divisive. He noted however that an increased number of donations were made to DVB since the attacks took place.

Aung Zaw believes that the specific attack was a result of the Irrawaddy’s coverage of corruptive practices of senior junta members and its commentary on the new parliament, which he said “definitely provoked a lot of anger in Naypyidaw… This person has been assigned to counter us”. He added that he had spoke to the NLD on Sunday and that they “were crystal clear who was behind this”.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Burma Sets Up Satellite Launching Committee

Burma has set up a central committee and a working committee for launching satellite in a bid to promote the capacity of the country's telecommunication and information sectors, said China's Xinhua news agency quoting a local report on Wednesday. Under the patronage of the first secretary of the ruling junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the seven-member working committee was formed with director of communications of the defence ministry as chairman and director- general of the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications as the secretary, the report said. The central committee for launching satellite will lay down policy with the launching of state-operated satellite, approve satellite-launching memorandums of understanding and other related documents, and carry out tasks aimed at obtaining space-related technology.

Source : http://irrawaddy.org/

Monday, March 7, 2011

Tay Za, USDP Secure IT Monopoly

Frustration and fury have been expressed by representatives of Burmese IT companies, including the semi-governmental Yatanarpon Teleport Company, after it emerged that FTTx (Fiber Transfer to X) contracts previously agreed with the military government were to be suspended in favor of a deal with tycoon Tay Za and an IT firm run by the junta's proxy party to establish a dual-monopoly of Burma's broadband networks.

Most of the affected firms have already installed FTTx services in Rangoon and Mandalay, according to agreed designated zones, and stand to lose their investments.

FTTx is a generic term for any broadband network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the typical communication systems, including Internet, television and telephone.

Mostly based Yatanarpon Teleport located near city of Pyin Oo Lwin, the companies signed BOT system contracts with the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs [MCPT] in September, sources close to these companies told The Irrawaddy. Many of the deals involved partnership with Yatanarpon Teleport, the country's largest IT firm.

The companies currently holding FTTx contracts are: E-Lite Company, Red Link, High the Princess, Fortune International, MDS, Kinetic Myanmar, Sky Net, and Fisca.

According to the sources, all contracts will soon be handed to the E-Lite owned by Burma's top businessman Tay Za, who is blacklisted under Western sanctions, and the ITCS, which is owned and controlled by the junta's political proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

“We have been working on these contracts for four or five months and have already spent a lot of money in implementing operations,” said a representative of one of the affected companies. “Now we are told to stop. We have been sidelined in favor of Tay Za.”

He said that billions of kyat, or millions of dollars, have already been spent by the affected firms on setting up the necessary infrastructure in Rangoon alone.

“By this way, I don't see Burma as a potential place for foreign companies to work,” he added.

“Our contract is for five years,” said a Sky Net staffer. “But now E-Lite and [USDP-run] ITCS will take over all the IT business in Rangoon. We are being kicked out.

“What about the investment we have outlaid? We are being forced to terminate our business in the middle of operations,” he said.

He add that the business climate in Burma is completely unfair, and that Elite is in a privileged position because of Tay Za's close connection to the military junta.

There are currently 13 WiFi zones in Rangoon, a number that will increase once the FTTx system is up and running. FTTx, unlike ordinary communications technology, can offer high-speed data transfer via underground fiber-optic cables.

“All the concerned companies are really angry at the authorities, especially because the situation is so unfair,” said the Sky Net staffer. “The Rangoon market for this service is growing. E-Lite approached the MCPT and convinced it to give E-Lite a monopoly on the service.”

“We can do nothing about it,” he said. “We have to do what we are told. We don't know if we will get compensation. The government has not made any comment.”

According to sources, the MCPT requested the affected companies to detail their expenditures to date after notifying them that their operations would have to be suspended. But, no compensation has been paid yet, they said.

A source said that although ITCS is registered as a private company, incumbent government officers and USDP members play significant roles in its boardroom, just as they do at Yatanarpon Teleport.

Moreover, he said, the ITCS sells mobile phones and prepaid cards in a joint venture with Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.

Elite Company is a subsidiary of Htoo Trading Co. Ltd, which also belongs to Tay Za. In collaboration with Myanmar Post and Telecommunications, it already has stakes in several related sectors, including: providing a nationwide Internet service via fiber optic cables; manufacturing IT-related materials; importing and distributing mobile phones; setting up CMDA phone lines; and the sale of prepaid phone cards.

Source:  http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20886

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Burmese Attempt Own 'Facebook Revolution'

The “Just Do It Against Military Dictatorship”
Facebook homepage on March 2, 2011. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)



 In an attempt to emulate the democratic revolution in Egypt that was sparked by a Facebook campaign, a group of Burmese activists operating inside the country have set up a Facebook page dubbed “Just Do It Against Military Dictatorship.”

The social networking campaign denounces the country's military dictatorship, calls for Burmese military chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family to leave the country and urges the army to join with the people.

The campaign began on Feb. 13—just two days after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned from office under pressure from protesters.

The Facebook page, now known simply as “JD,” has prompted the distribution of anti-government material in a number of places across Burma and raised security levels in Rangoon.

“We are not daydreaming,” said an activist in Rangoon who said he was a JD supporter. “No dictator can resist a popular movement, we know.”

The campaign has now received the support of over 1,000 activists in Burma, according to one of the organizers who declined to be named due to personal safety concerns.

The organizer told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that JD supporters have distributed anti-government pamphlets in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, and in Taunggyi Township in Shan State.

He said that a poster dropped at the main railway station in Mandalay reads: “Get Out! Than Shwe.”

On Wednesday, JD supporters distributing pamphlets in Zay Cho market—the largest in Mandalay—had to flee when police arrived.

In addition, a professor from Taunggyi University reportedly informed the authorities about the distribution of anti-government pamphlets in Shan State, but no one was arrested.

Facebook is the second most popular site after Gmail among the estimated 400,000 Internet users inside Burma. Twitter, the micro-blogging website, is banned in the country.

Due to the limited access to the Internet for many people inside Burma, it remains uncertain how much further the Facebook campaign can go. But the Burmese authorities, notorious for brutal repression against any form of dissent, have apparently heightened security in Rangoon.

Rangoon residents said they saw anti-riot police trucks driving around the city center on Wednesday morning, although this is not unusual and there is no confirmed link between the security measures and the Facebook campaign.

The Burmese state-run media made no mention of the protests in North Africa and private journals were restricted in reporting the news.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that the Burmese people were closely following the protests in Libya. In comparing Libya and Burma, Suu Kyi told the Voice of America that past protests in Burma faced brutal crackdowns from the army, whereas some army units in Libya split and joined with protesters.

“In Burma, I don’t think there was any noticeable divisions with regards to the policies of the military,” Suu Kyi said.

Source : http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20859

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Burma Arrests Two Foreigners for Spying: Sources

Two foreigners working as volunteers at a private school in Rangoon run by a prominent local businessman have reportedly been arrested on suspicion of being CIA agents, according to official sources in Burma's former capital.

Sources from Military Affairs Security (MAS), the Burmese regime's military intelligence agency, said that the two foreigners were arrested in the third week of February. No further details about their identities or nationalities were available.

The MAS sources said that the pair worked as volunteer teachers at a school run by Dr Sai San Tun, the owner of the Alpine Drinking Water Company and the Yadanarbon Soccer Club.

When contacted by The Irrawaddy on Monday, Alpine Drinking Water's head office in Rangoon declined to comment on the case. The US embassy in Rangoon was also not available for immediate response.

Foreigners working in Burma, including diplomatic staff and aid workers, are viewed with suspicion by the Burmese authorities, who maintain strict surveillance of their activities in the country.

Since a crackdown on protesting Buddhist monks in 2007, the regime has stepped up its efforts to keep an eye on foreigners. Foreign NGO workers traveling outside of the cities for field research report that they are routinely followed by government agents.

In December 2009, a female teacher with the American Center in Rangoon was deported from Burma after she gave a talk on environmental issues to members of the opposition National League for Democracy in Mandalay, the second largest city in Burma.


Source : http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20845

Announcement : Launch of report on 2010 elections at FCCT on 8 March

Burma News International (BNI), the coalition of 11 exile Burma news groups, have released today the 135 page report on the November elections.
Hobson-Cover“The book is extremely readable,” says Khuensai Jaiyen, Editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), a member organization of BNI. “Half of it is just lists and references, so the reader need spend only a few hours to go through it. It should be a must for nosy people like me who are too lazy to read.”

Entitled Hobson’s Choice: Burma’s 2010 elections, the report details irregularities including the use of advance votes obtained though coerced voting and the highly unaccountable vote-counting.

“If it’s democracy, then give me dictatorship,” said a BNI member who took part in the drafting of the report. “At least it is honest about itself.”

The report will be launched at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) on 8 March. For more details, please contact Khin Maung Shwe, BNI secretary, Tel: (66) 847 225 988.

Source : http://www.bnionline.net/media-alert/10178-announcement--launch-of-report-on-2010-elections-at-fcct-on-8-march.html