This is something new i learnt today - Skype is prohibited across the UAE since years back! (Ok, i know i'm really outdated cos they banned this like 2004 or so.. but i think i probably won't get to learn this till the day there is a need for me to skype someone in the middle east)
There were articles saying that due to this reason, the price of international calling in UAE skyrocketed - Oh man, no wonder my SGD 5 bucks calling card could only last me like 10 mins or less when i called Mr. G the last time! Which is why the reason we planned to skype for his trip this round... ended up i got a sms from him saying "Skype is not allowed in UAE by law". Meaning, we have to rely back to tel-phone. *Weird thing is that Mr. G manage to log on to skype at certain places - Well, except his hotel :(
Also found out that not only Skype is banned... Some popular applications like Flickr, YouTube,Twitter & MySpace are also prohibited. So, in a way... Aren't we lucky? :)
The UAE prevents its citizens from accessing a significant amount of Internet content spanning a variety of topics, though the majority of sites filtered appear to be those deemed obscene. Outside the free zones, the state employs SmartFilter software to block content such as nudity, sex, dating, gambling, cults/occult, religious conversion, and drugs. Sites containing anonymizer, hacking, translation, and VoIP applications are also filtered in this manner. The manual blocking of the entire Israeli domain is indicative of the government’s political opposition to the Israeli state, rather than to the particular contents of the Web sites hosted there. Though most political sites and news sources are accessible throughout the country, a handful are blocked. It remains to be seen how severely the enforcement of TRA policies in the free zone and affiliated residential clusters will hamper access to Internet content and transform the traditionally unrestricted information environment in those areas.
17 comments:
HI
THATS GOOD.AT TIMES IT IS BETTER NOT TO HAVE SUCH TV CHANNELS
o.O erm... to the one upstairs: Skype is a software which lets you make free calls over the internet to anywhere in the world.
ahem...
Phew. You almost got me worried there. As long as it doesn't affect me, I'll be happy happy joy joy and go on with my life.
Heee.. Hi Pam, yeap & i was prettie shock to learn abt it yesterday. Anyway, i thght we are luckie tat all these useful applications are not ban in SG! :p
Xer,
I'm from Malaysia. Haha. And it's not banned here either! Whee! Nice to meet you, btw. =)
Cheers.
U're rite Pam.. Oops, i read ur profile after replying ur comment *_*
No prob. =)
i din know is ban in uae. what do the people over there use? i think ur mr g illegally downloaded it
knew abt this when i was in uae. so i hav skype,msn,ym & google talk in my laptop. somehow skype cld be accessed in dubai airport (wi-fi).
uae blocked to force the people to use their emirati telecom to make phone calls rather than the cheap voip.
Think skype cannot be downloaded there but if you already have it in your lappie.. depends on which network you are connected to, u can access it at times :)
i thought it is banned here..make me worried for nothing.. =.= ..yeah we are super lucky..hehe
not only that, only Etisalat is allowed to work there, which is just like our Prepaid Sim. So, if you use PREPAID SIM CARD... nah... it won't work. Heck, even alot of networks which are on POST PAY don't work there, along with Saudi and KUWAIT.
So, remember, you sim card is useless in UAE.
No problem for me, I dont use skype anyway.
Think next time before travelling to UAE, good to check out more stuff so as to get prepared :)
skype review in web2.0
i'll be in abu dhabi from 10 mar to 13 mar, staying at millenium hotel.
anyone care to add my skype id:- johnny_58100
Oh.. tat's like 2 days frm now! Hope u hav a gd trip :)
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