UAE unblocks access to top Israeli domain ".il"
Submitted by Helmi Noman on 20 November, 2009 - 20:31.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has unblocked access to Web sites on the Israeli country code top-level domain “.il"
ONI noticed earlier this month that .il Web sites have been accessible from the UAE, and has since been testing for filtering of tens of .il Web sites from different categories including government, politics, religion, and entertainment. All sites have been found consistently accessible via the country's two ISPs, Etisalat and du.
It is not clear why the UAE authorities have decided to remove the ban on .il Web sites and whether this unblocking will continue.
Like many Arab countries, the UAE has no official diplomatic relations with Israel.
ONI's technical tests run in 2006-2007 and 2008-2009 found that the entire “.il” top-level domain was blocked in the UAE.
In addition to .il Web sites, ONI's most recent research on Internet filtering in the UAE ( ONI UAE Country Profile published August 2009) found that the UAE censors a few political and religious Web sites, some sites belonging to Nazis or historical revisionists, and pervasively filters Web sites that contain pornography, content relating to alcohol and drug use, gay and lesbian issues, online dating, gambling, as well as online privacy and circumvention tools.
UAE
Yes. I've heard about that. But when we are talking about UAE, we should say that because of the rapid development of the UAE from a traditional, homogeneous society in the mid-20th century to a modern, multicultural one at the beginning of the 21st century, the concurrent development of legal provisions and the practical enforcement of existing laws has been challenging and, in consequence, problems exist mainly in regard to human rights of non-citizens, who make up around 80% of the population.
hmm
2 weeks ago i clicked a link which ended in gov.il and it opened but another link ending in .co.il didnt open.
i think they are unblocking them gradually??
question
One has to wonder what is worse : blocking websites or letting people know the truth ?
Unblocking will likely stop...
Well I doubt this "unblocking" will last. It's actually pretty surprising that they allowed it in the first place. They are clearly censorship happy and will not allow their people real freedom.
I would not doubt if their "filtering" comes back into play at anytime now. The UAE is in a world of their own. How anyone could live under their rule is beyond my comprehension.
Thanks,
Greg Markinson
hog ring pliers
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