internet phone service barred in Ethiopia

[DeeDee Halleck]

*SERVICE*

** **

June 12 (GIN) – In a step backward for free speech, the Ethiopian
government has passed new legislation that criminalizes the use of
Internet-based voice communications such as Skype and other forms of
Internet phone calling.****

** **

The crackdown extends to the print press. According to the watchdog
Reporters Without Borders, the state printer, Berhanena Selam, which has a
near monopoly on newspaper and magazine printing in Ethiopia, is trying to
impose political censorship on media content before publication.****

** **

In a proposed “standard contract for printing” recently circulated by state
printers, they assume the right to vet and reject articles prior to
printing.****

** **

“This contract could drag Ethiopia back more than two decades as regards
media freedom, to the time of Mengistu’s brutal dictatorship in pre 1991
Ethiopia,” Reporters Without Borders wrote on their website. “Allowing
printers to control editorial content is tantamount to give them court
powers”

** **

The government defends such legislation as a timely and appropriate
response to the ever increasing security threats globally and in Ethiopia.
But observers say the law is aimed at further limiting freedom of
expression and the flow of information in the nation of 85 million people.**
**

** **

Anyone involved in "illegal" phone calling services will be prosecuted and
could be jailed for up to 15 years or fined heavily if found guilty.****

** **

In the last five years websites and blogs critical of the government have
been frequently blocked and all Amharic language broadcasts aimed at
Ethiopia have been jammed.



-- 
http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org
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