Bella Sewall on 12 Jul 2000 08:04:41 -0000 |
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<nettime> Internet in Turkmenistan |
[orig. to the GILC list] To Whom it May Concern at the Global Internet Liberty Campaign: I am writing to inform you about recent events in Turkmenistan which are threatening the access of people from all sectors of society, from journalists to scientists to businesses to humanitarian organizations, to the internet. The following press release explains that because of a government crackdown, Turkmentelecom is about to become a monopoly internet service provider, sealing one of the last chinks of freedom reaching the population of this country. I know that GILC understands the importance of maintaining a choice of internet service providers where the commitment of these providers to free expression, privacy, and fair use is vital to preserving some form of open communication in a country where every small nod towards freedom is significant. I have less experience in these issues and look forward to any advice you might have to offer about how to effectively publicize this matter and raise the funds necessary to rescue independent internet access in Turkmenistan. I would also be greatful if you could include the information contained in this press release on your website. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Bella Sewall Executive Director, Law and Environment Eurasia Partnership ----- The text below is identical to that contained in the attached press release. PRESS RELEASE July 1, 2000, Ashgabad, Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan. On May 25, 2000, the Ministry of Connections of Turkmenistan revoked the licenses of private Internet service providers and froze the bank account of biggest private provider, Ariana Ltd., in an effort to make Turkmentelecom, the official telecommunications provider of the government of Turkmenistan, a monopoly. This move threatens to restrict the access of people from all sectors of society in Turkmenistan, from journalists to scientists to businesses to humanitarian organizations, to the Internet. Before the Ministry began its attack on private providers, clients of these private providers included the embassies of the USA and the Ukraine, the Central Bank of Turkmenistan and several other banks, many foreign correspondents, many environmental and educational organizations, and most private firms. Turkmentelecom's service is not reliable nor is Turkmentelecom committed to allowing the free of exchange of ideas over the Internet. On the contrary, Turkmentelecom is known to read and censor correspondence and their official policy is that they maintain the right "to close the account in case of sending/distributing information which may bring a damage to the governmental interests." Perhaps even more restrictive for clients operating outside of the capital, Ashgabad, Turkmentelecom does not have local servers, so users not living in Ashgabad must pay for a long distance call in order to connect to the internet, a prohibitive expense especially for poorer rural clients made even more unreasonable by the low quality of long distance connections. Turkmentelecom does not offer reduced rates to humanitarian organizations. Turkmentelecom had only 100 clients on May 29th. One of Turkmenistan's private Internet service providers, Ariana Ltd., is struggling to continue to provide services to the users of the more than 350 accounts that were previously maintained by the company. Ariana has continued to provide free or reduced price Internet access to environmental and humanitarian organizations operating throughout Turkmenistan, as it did before the recent licensing problems arose. However, because Ariana owes Data Sat, its satellite provider, $11,000 for services provided for the month of June, and cannot access the money in its account because the government of Turkmenistan has frozen its assets, Ariana faces bankruptcy and the loss of its satellite access. If the Ministry refuses to relent, it may still be possible to save a shell of Ariana dedicated to non-commercial support of NGOs doing humanitarian work. This will cost $3000 per month after June. Ariana staff would continue to work as volunteers, and all funds would go to cover fees charged by third parties. For more information or to make a donation to help Ariana maintain independent internet access and prevent the closing of Turkmenistan's iron curtain, please contact: 1. Bella Sewall, Executive Director, Law and Environment Eurasia Partnership email: bella.sewall@yale.edu, phone in Almaty, Kazakhstan: (7- 3272) 639 510 2. Andrei Zatoka, Dashkhovuz Ecological Club email: azat@tashauz.cat.glasnet.ru, phone in Dashkavuz, Turkmenistan: (10-993322) 56683 # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net