huridocs-tech Kazakh Government Tries To Control Internet

For those of you interested in Human Rights and the Internet, this story
is pretty appalling.... (posted on www.russiatoday.com).

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December 22, 1999

Kazakh Government Tries To Control Internet
By Julie Moffett

A U.S. expert says Kazakhstan's new law on telecommunications gives the
government sweeping powers to monitor the Internet.

Gerald Kovacich, an expert on the Internet and author of numerous books on
computer security, told RFE/RL that the Kazakhstan's resolution creating a
new National Telecommunications Billing Center will give the government
the opportunity to do "basically whatever it wants" in regards to the
Internet.

The Kazakh government passed the resolution in early December,
establishing the billing center. According to the resolution, the center
will not scrutinize the content of Internet traffic, but only monitor the
volume of international voice and data communication. Officials say the
center will also permit them to confirm the billing accuracy of local
telecommunication companies and enforce tax payments and collections. In
terms of the Internet, the resolution provides only that the government
will take control of assigning Internet domain names in Kazakhstan.

But Kovacich says this law is typical of many other governments' attempts
to control the Internet. Russia, China, and many other nations have
similar legislation, he says. Such resolutions are purportedly enacted
because of economic considerations, he adds, but established primarily to
try to control and monitor the Internet.

In Kazakhstan's case, Kovacich says it is interesting to note the
government's open denial that the center will attempt to monitor the
Internet.

"Well, the Internet runs over the telephone line. So, how could they
differentiate between Internet traffic and non-Internet traffic? And once
you have the access to monitor that, you have the access to read it, block
it, change it, to do whatever you want. So, if you look at their old
communist background and see who is still in power, and you know they
don't have democracy really down yet, you question their real need to do
what they are doing."

Rinat Akhmetshin, director of the Kazakhstan Twenty-First Century
Foundation in Washington, told RFE/RL that many non-governmental
organizations and opposition political groups within Kazakhstan are
greatly concerned by the new law.

He says their concerns are heightened by the fact that the government has
already shut down or blocked access to several Internet sites that contain
information critical of Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"The worst part of this law is that it has been adopted secretly. It has
been adopted without discussion in the press. It has been adopted without
any consultation with media specialists or journalists. And I think that
is proof that they try to secretly do this when no one is watching."

The Kazakh Embassy in Washington did not return calls to RFE/RL for
comment on the new legislation.

Kovacich says to expect similar legislation to come out of many more
countries as governments attempt to grapple with the power of the
Internet. He says governments are afraid because the technology is
progressing so rapidly that people no longer have to rely on
government-controlled newspapers or radios to get their information.

He adds: "As we enter the twenty-first century, [nation-states] are
starting to lose power. The reason they are losing power is because of the
technology which makes individuals more aware of the world around them.
The nation-state must control the Internet, and telecommunications is
where the Internet is."

Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio
FreeEurope/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.




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