Largest ISP In Philippines: The Catholic Church

Cheshire Cat writes: "I came across an article at mercurycenter.com. It's about how the Roman Catholic Church is the largest ISP in the Philippines. While it is very low cost, it also filters out porn sites. An interesting quote from the article: '[A user] types in the Internet address for a Playboy Web site. Almost immediately, the computer displays this admonition: 'Thank God you were not able to enter that bad site. CBCPNet suggests that you access wholesome sites instead. God Bless You.'"

Well, I hate to be obvious, but...

They could always use another ISP. Just because it's the largest doesn't mean it has to be the one you choose. It's like people who whine about having to use AOL. When you ask why they don't choose another provider, they respond "But AOL is the largest!". (???)

True, there are some areas in which the church really is the only service available, but I guess that's the price of development. If nobody else is willing to move in and provide service and the church is, well -- then it's their business how they want to run their service. Nobody is forcing people to get internet access in the first place.

On the other hand, I've never been fond of Christian mission work. "We'll move in, provide needed services like medical aid and helping provide agricultural assistance, and in the process, we'll wash them of their evil non-Christian beliefs by assmiliating them through our indoctrination".

Interestingly enough, the church doesn't have a problem allowing kids to play bloody shootem-ups in their Church-run internet cafes. I guess it's okay to blow someone's head off but not to reasearch breast cancer or track down a killer photo of Angelina Jolie partially nude.

Maybe another entity will move in and provide competition in these areas and then there will be a choice as to whether or not they want filtered service or not. Then again, since the church has so much political clout in the region, they may just move into the legal system and demand filtering by all ISP's so that only the word of the almighty (Christian)God is available.

All in all, this isn't anything different than what they'd like to do in the United States.
---
seumas.com

Some more humorous quotes from the ISP (humor)

Dear ISP user, we have received notice that you have been misusing your ISP account in an attempt to gain surreptitious entry into another network. Not only is this a violation of the contract you signed with the Catholic Church (for which, your soul may be forfeit, by the way) it is also a violation of the Bible, book of Revelations, Chapter 28, verse 13 (check the new version in .pdf format).

"Do not seeketh to gain entry into heavenly portals, lest ye be struck down in the midst of your entry. Heavenly portals shall seek you out when they deem you worthy of entry."

You can also look to the following verses, which are also available on our website for guidance.

"If your keyboard is your problem, cut it off. Better to enter the portal of heaven with only a mouse, than to not be able to enter at all. If pointing and clicking is unseemly, then by all means, purchase VR glasses (from our website) and the new head mouse (also available on our website) and remove the mouse from thy presence."

"For no one who hath hacked, or cracked their way into the portal of heaven shall be allowed to stay for long. They shall be given access long enough to know how wondrous God's creation, the internet, is, and in doing so, shall hopefully gain the wisdom of peace and harmony."

For humor purposes only.

krystal_blade

What do you expect?

It's the Catholic Church.

Not a government agency obliged to respect opposing views. Not a corporation bent on maximizing profit. Not a monopoly unfairly using its marketshare to bludgeon potential competitors into submission. A religious organization, part of whose stated purpose is to practice and promote a certain code of conduct.

The Catholic Church is about morality. They're supposed to instill moral behavior by word and by example. Of course they're filtering out porn, and probably other stuff that conflicts with the Catholic ideal. Would you ever take the Church seriously again if they were using their resources to make pornography readily available for all who want it?

Oh Hey...Did You Notice This?

Did anyone see this part of the posting?

from the no-dirty-pix-of-amy-shaftoe dept

I've only recently started to read the from the ... dept part of the postings. Is it just me or does this seem to be the consistantly best part of Slashdot?

Sigh. Overreaction and skew.

Keep a few things in mind when reading the mercurycenter article, and note some things that you may not have known when you read the leader above.

(1) Percentage-wise, the Philippines are heavily Catholic.
(2) People in the Philippines have a choice of ISPs. One ISP (initiated by the Catholic Bishops' Conference) is attempting to cater to what it thinks Catholics want. Are you angry that they are successful?
(3) If you don't want CBCPNet to filter your internet connections, all you have to do is fill out a request asking them not to.
(4) CBCPNet tells you how to report sites that you think were incorrectly filtered (either blocked when they shouldn't have been, or not blocked when they should have been.)

I know that a lot of people go berzerk when they hear the words "internet filtering" or "censorship", but it doesn't seem like this is worth getting worked up about. The gist of the article is that if you live in the Philippines, you have the option of using an ISP whose default configuration blocks access to pornographic sites. The popularity of this option surprised Mercury News, so they wrote an article about it.

I encourage you to read the CBCPNet faq (http://www.cbcpnet.com/faq/index.htm) or "About Us" page (http://www.cbcpnet.com/aboutus/index.htm), but I'll quote three questions here for ease of reference:

What if I find an objectionable site that gets through the filter?

Simply notify us and we will evaluate the site for addition to our blocked list.

What if I find a site that is unnecessarily blocked?

Simply notify us and we will evaluate the site to allow access.

Can I request RCNet to turn off filtering for me?

Yes, either when you sign up for service or anytime afterward. We can turn it back on for you anytime you request.

Reflections by Thomas Paine

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
-- Thomas Paine

"CBCP may try to restrict users to wholesome sites, but it tolerates violent computer games. . .
While Quitorio acknowledges that the church frowns on the violent arcade games, he has chosen to take a pragmatic attitude.
``We were convinced by Eman that we had to adjust to the priorities of the market, or we wouldn't earn enough money to open new sites,'' he said. ``Since the terminals in most Internet cafes are used for games, we had to accept it.''"


echo $email | sed s/[A-Z]//g | rot13

Re:Sigh. Overreaction and skew.

Agreed.

I don't see anything wrong with what the Catholic Church is doing. They are providing a service at a price. Too high a price? Keep in mind that price has galaxies more significance than just money cost. Try to start another ISP. The fact that you can request the filtering to be turned off (and they'll turn it off) is telling, so in short this is a standard rubber-stamp slashdot overreaction.

I am not sure getting the internet for all is even a worthwhile goal, it just seems like progress without purpose. I know I spend my time on stupid sites like Slashdot rather than self-improvement type sites, so the 'net for me has a negative influence on my time. ;)

If you think about it, the pOrn industry is the first to really profit from the internet. Do I really agree with filtering? Not really. Should an organization that is likely loosing money providing internet service to private homes be _required_ to filter or to not filter? No. I think even the Phillipines is a capitalist country with some amount of freedom in that respect.

Alas, much adeu about zilch.

It's not anything new, really

Historically, the R.C. Church has always aided the poor when it comes to money and technology.

Consider:
Once Gutenburg's printing press was perfected, it was the Church that was the biggest patron. For over 500 years, the most printed book on the planet has been the Bible. This allowed for spreading the word faster and cheaper.
They didn't pay for Voltaire's Candide to be printed, though. :-)