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   Monday January 27 9:50 AM EST 
   
UAE Launches Service To Censor Internet

   DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates's monopoly Internet provider launched
   a service Saturday to censor sites in cyberspace that breached local
   moral values and traditions.
   
   Officials from state telecommunications company Etisalat said the new
   Proxy Service would be compulsory for the UAE's 9,669 subscribers, who
   will have to configure their web browsers that navigate the net by
   February 2.
   
   "The service was launched today as part of our efforts to improve the
   Internet service to our subscribers after lengthy study and research,"
   said one official at Etisalat.
   
   "We were working on it before some official statements were made on
   the need to control access to some sites on the service," he told
   Reuters.
   
   The move follows repeated calls to regulate access to the Internet in
   the conservative Gulf region, where most women are veiled, magazine
   pictures revealing cleavage or bare legs are blacked out and
   questioning the existence of god can be punishable by death.
   
   Some are worried about the spread of pornography as well as religious
   and political material through the worldwide network of interlinked
   computers.
   
   Last year, Dubai Police chief Major General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim
   created a rare public row in the UAE saying the information ministry
   and the police, rather that Etisalat, should be authorized to issue
   Internet licenses as it was their job to monitor data coming into the
   UAE and maintain security.
   
   Telecommunications experts say the Proxy Service will not be "fully
   water-tight," but would help block access to known and unwanted sites
   -- a list of which could be constantly updated.
   
   The proxy server will be pre-fed with Internet addresses where access
   is blocked off, industry sources said. But the server will be unable
   to block access if addresses of prohibited sites are changed, as
   frequently happens.
   
   Etisalat says it will disconnect any customer who abused its Internet
   services and violated "order and clear laws."
   
   "Singapore has succeeded to a great extent in its drive to control
   harm done by the Internet," said another Etisalat official. "Why
   cannot we?"
   
   Singapore government measures to regulate political and religious
   content on the Internet and keep it free of pornography became
   effective in July last year. They require all Internet service
   operators and local content providers to be registered with the
   Singapore Broadcasting Authority.
   
   Copyright, Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved
   
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