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+ - Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia->

Submitted by Hany Almansour
Hany Almansour (2029200) writes "For 10 years, Saudi Arabia (and most gulf region) has been using Bluecoat or Sidewinder to do filtering for Internet sites. In the beginning it was easy as the traffic was not exceeding 2Gbs at the peak. In 2006, after moving the internet network from KACST/ISU to STC, the traffic almost doubled each quarter which raises a big concern on the future of the current provided filtering solutions. that is why a new filtering solution has been developed"
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Comment: Re:culture difference (Score 1) 126

by Hany Almansour (#35656314) Attached to: Censorware Vendors Can Stop Mid-East Dealings
the fundmentals that you have is totally different than what is in the middle east. i will give you a simple example known in the middle east which describe the fundementals of freedom there "if we where in ship in middle of the sea and one of the people wants to dig in his room which located at the bottom of the ship should we say he has the freedom to do it or stop him from the sinking the ship" you can build on this fundemental concept for any case. usually each case is reviewed for its effect on other people. for the filtering issue, you are looking at it from your side and try to impose your fundemetals only without giving them their freedom to choose. In Saudi arabia almost more than 50% of the population is under 18 (accrding to US fundementals they don't have freedom) and based on the above concept the filetring is done for nationwide to save the childrens because most of the parents doesn't know anything about the internet. and for your information bypassing the filter in saudi arabia is simple for adults, and if an adult wants a totally unfiltered internet he can simply do it using VPN. i hope that i cleared the concept for you and the others who comments

Comment: culture difference (Score 1) 126

by Hany Almansour (#35654636) Attached to: Censorware Vendors Can Stop Mid-East Dealings
Dears, I am one of the guys who have been phoned by Paul (writter of WSJ article), it was like an interrogation which i really didn't like at all. he didn't take my opinion at the end. My friend Mishary Alfaris (his name in the report) told me that Kuwait was having an unfiltered internet and the ISP voluntarily implements filtering to attract customers then it was adopted by the government. the cultures different between US and Middle East, in my country (Saudi Arabia) we want the filtering and to prove this the regulator put a site for requesting blocking or unblocking a site. 90% of the requests ask for blocking sites. yes there is some political site that are blocked but i think it represent 1% of the whole internet and i would accept it. for me I would thank U.S. products for providing us with clean internet.
