(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick


Filed Under:
ban, pakistan, youtube



Pakistan Lifts YouTube Ban... Hopes Internet Stays In One Piece This Time

from the not-so-quiet-after-all dept

When other countries have decided to ban YouTube, they've done it rather publicly, with a judge or politician stating very publicly that the site was to be banned for offensive videos. However, over the weekend, when Pakistan decided to ban YouTube, it tried to do so quietly, by simply telling various ISPs to block the site and hoping people wouldn't notice. That didn't work so well. As you might have noticed, thanks to the way some ISPs handle information, not only did it take out YouTube in Pakistan, but it ended up knocking it offline throughout much of the world, generating an awful lot of attention. And now, just about a day later, Pakistan has decided not to ban YouTube after all. So for a day's worth of a "quiet" ban on YouTube, Pakistan helped knock YouTube offline around the globe, got tons of attention to the fact that it was banning the site over some mysteriously "offensive" videos, and then didn't end up banning the site very long anyway. How effective was that plan?

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

    Feb 26th, 2008 @ 11:04am
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Will they lose their AS number ?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Feb 26th, 2008 @ 12:34pm
  • by Anonymous Coward

    If they backpedaled so easily, it would seem they didn't feel that strongly about it, unlike certain other 8th Century regimes...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Feb 26th, 2008 @ 1:13pm
  • If only...

    by James

    ...we could banish extremist, religious idiocy throughout the world so easily.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Feb 26th, 2008 @ 8:23pm
  • The real problem with ISP's

    by Kevin

    The real problem is how ISP's handle information..
    From what I've read since this has happened is that the security of information on the current configuration/system is not at its best, and people are now looking more deeply on how to fix this problem. Thats the gist of what I know so far.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 18th, 2008 @ 2:14pm
  • leave the blocs alone!!!!!!!!!

    by kenesha

    fuck all the people thats tryna block shit, some of us dont do the crazie shit u think we on here doin. why dont you jus leave the shit on here alone the way it is.If you dont trust your kids that much dont give them little bastards a computer. hell take they asses to the library, a public place wont kill them.I think that the blocks should be on 12-8 fuck what the rest of them is doing shit!!!!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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