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

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

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”.

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/

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

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

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