Bahrain's ISPs Must Block Google Earth 79
Bashar writes "A Bahraini newspaper reported today that Bahrain government, following the block of nude sites, have instructed all ISPs to block the Google Earth service, making them one of the few countries worldwide to block a major Google service that is used around the globe, and proving very effective. Here is the same news source, translated by Google to English."
Censor (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Censor (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Censor (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Censor (Score:2)
No, according to that map, it's more of a cylinder. The east and west edges meet, but I pity the fool who tries to visit either pole.
Re:Censor (Score:1)
Re:Censor (Score:1)
Re:Censor (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Censor (Score:5, Insightful)
And blocking Google Earth will thwart them?!?!
Bahrain is pretty liberal as far as theocracies go.. I'm surprised they've chosen censorship at all, but blocking Google Earth is particularly batty.
Re:Censor (Score:2)
Re:Censor (Score:2)
Re:Censor (Score:2)
Since governments don't appear to believe the "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide" maxim why should anyone else?
Re:Censor (Score:2)
They might also have some stuff they are wanting to hide from thier citizens or just confused and thinking that if they block it, we won't be able to see them. OTOH, if the country is on the brink of civil war, then controling all the information in the country might be
Re:Censor (Score:2)
Yes, because terrorists could never launch an attack without a four-year out-of-date satellite image.
Re:Censor (Score:2)
Yes, It is possible that they monitor library access and maybe internet site access. It might even be possible for t
Re:Censor (Score:2)
Just about as batty as many of the things happening in the US.
SB
Bahrain Govt & People Don't Get Along (Score:4, Informative)
Not right at the moment, but I'd agree that blocking GE isn't going to slow them down. The Sheik and his family are Sunni, while the majority of Bahrainis are Shia. For years, the Shia perceived that they weren't getting a fair shake from the sheik, and the revolution in Iran didn't help. The opposition has been coopted to some degree by the introduction of a two house Parliment and regular elections (The GE closing may be a result of conservative morality agenda w/in the lower house, which also led to blocked porn sites). However, this is offset to some degree by the Sheik's long standing policies to assist the US in the Gulf, which aren't popular with most citizens.
Re:Censor (Score:2)
They don't need Google Earth to find the base. This is probably the whim of some Minister of Information / TRA or some such nonsense.
Re:Censoring FunLand (Score:1, Funny)
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1&t=k&ll=26.23
Re:Censor (Score:1)
Re:Censor (Score:2)
dumb question (Score:2)
Security (Score:1)
Re:dumb question (Score:2)
Re:dumb question (Score:2)
Re:dumb question (Score:2)
No?
Re:dumb question (Score:2)
Every Thursday night, the Saudis drive to Bahrain for shopping and entertainment. The joke is, "Allah cannot see across the causeway."
The Bahraini, for the most part, are fairly open-minded, friendly, and are more interested in doing business than discussing politics or causing trouble.
Re:dumb question (Score:2)
One must wonder (Score:1)
This can mean only one thing... Baharain has a democratic form of government!
Translate to English (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Translate to English (Score:1)
Re:Translate to English (Score:2)
I didn't understand a word it said but after reading it I now know how to put my stereo instructions.
gov't too (Score:1, Interesting)
Well DUH (Score:2)
Re:gov't too (Score:3, Informative)
As are most of the other government agency sites - http://www.newarabia.net/Bahrain_ministry.htm [newarabia.net]
Next time, try not to be such a sensationalist over one dead link.
google maps of bahrain: (Score:1, Informative)
They can relax; I know what they're worried about: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:They can relax; I know what they're worried abo (Score:2, Funny)
would be nice (Score:2)
We get to control latitude, longitude, and zoom. I also want to control at least two angles (compass direction and the elevation above the horizon) and time. It's important to have the old data too, so I can see who shot JFK.
To make things easier, I need automatic object tracking. I'll choose an object, like your car, and get video that follows it. Time could be normal
Re:would be nice (Score:1)
Actually, this is basically there, and with no single camera needed. Great Britain, sorry, the UK, is currently implementing this.
Seems like they've been putting cameras all over the place, especially on streets and intersections. Then someone realized they could do OCR to get license plate numbers. Then, just recently, some braniac realized you could write software to look at license plate readings + their time stamps, and map out a route cars
Re:They can relax; I know what they're worried abo (Score:2)
what's up with Bahrain? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:what's up with Bahrain? (Score:2)
Oh and he is a child rapist.
Oh, well (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, why is this a problem for anyone outside of Bahrain? If they want to remain stupid and ignorant, I say let them.
Re:Oh, well (Score:1)
Re:Oh, well (Score:1)
Re:Oh, well (Score:2)
Harmonisation (Score:3, Insightful)
Because it encourages other governments to "harmonise" to Bahraini law. Remember that harmonisation is how the US got the Bono Act and how Australia got counterparts to the Bono Act and the DMCA.
Re:something to hide? (Score:1)
Clearly the problem is about the earth being flat. (Score:2)
Now it's time for you to pick sides.
Re:Clearly the problem is about the earth being fl (Score:1)
Flat earth (Score:2)
- RG>
Not meant to be a joke... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's beacuse of pinups in the mohave desert (Score:1)
http://cdn.maximonline.com/maximusa/index.html [maximonline.com]
(google earth:)
-115.3829811832588
35.62000012441331
60.83465853476389
-3.743328418621198e-009
-0.0006229266229549453
Re:It's beacuse of pinups in the mohave desert (Score:2)
> http://cdn.maximonline.com/maximusa/index.html
Nice try. But it's bogus...nothing but a couple of image files ( http://www.maximonline.com/maximusa/maxim_logo.jp g [maximonline.com] and http://www.maximonline.com/maximusa/maximcover.png [maximonline.com] ) overlaid over the map coordinates using Google Earth's Image Overlay feature. It's all clearly visible in the
variation on the honeypot (Score:2, Insightful)
Granted, still lame, ways around it, etc, but it is still my guess. Governments/regimes
Possible reason why they are doing this... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Possible reason why they are doing this... (Score:2)
Same reason Texas did it. (Score:1)
This was, I think, in response to a string of burglaries in Houston where it was discovered that criminals picked targets and planned routes / optimized thievery based on aerial photos and floor plans.
I would've just stopped showing the floor plans.
Perhaps Bahrain is simila
Re:Same reason Texas did it. (Score:2)
Re:Same reason Texas did it. (Score:1)
Surely... (Score:2)
Mirror it! (Score:2)
control (Score:1)