P2P networks like Bittorrent and Gnutella always work with me. Never had any problems with it. And if tor doesn't work, I really think it's tor's fault, and not the ISP. Tor is encrypted, isn't it impossible for the ISP to "block" it?

Apparently, VoIP services aren't completely blocked. It's just the ones that allow you to do cheap PC-to-Phone calls that are blocked, as it would kindof interfere with Etisalat's revenue. However, things like SIP and Google Talk, where it's just PC-to-PC works perfectly fine.

Flickr is blocked because Etisalat blocks "dating sites". That's the official reason. Yes, I know, flickr is not a "dating site" :P . It's a shame that it got blocked for something silly like that.

In general, Etisalat's Internet service is pretty horrible compared to other countries. It's a well known fact. Sucks, but the people there generally just accept it and try to find workarounds (and doing that doesn't get them into trouble).

I dunno, some parts of your comments seem rather exaggerated. First off, Emaratis HAVE to pay speeding fines. I know that because I'm an Emarati myself. And no, we dont get some special discount. We might be able to get away with it because we know where all the traffic radars are and so we slow down just in time :P There isn't any "siren" implanted in our cars. It's just the standard "bell" that comes out from the car when you go above 120km/h . I really don't think it's due to a government regulation, but it's probably dependant on the car itself. Our family bought a Pajero last, and whenever I speed, I do get a rather annoying continous beep from it, but it's not that loud. The sound can be drowned with music played in a reasonable volume. Also, that claim that using privacy enhancing encryption can lead you to the courthouse sounds farfetched to me. I've been using privacy enhancing applications in the UAE the entire time, and I'm fine. Also, tor works. I tried. If it would really eventually make me end up in the courthouse, give me evidence. As an Emarati, I admit that my country has some problems, but there is no need to exaggerate things and tell lies which would unnecessarily damage the reputation of the country.

I'm guessing they mean the videogame consoles. What kind of DRM is obstructive in those? As far as I know when you buy digital distributed software in those consoles, you can't play them on other consoles. Makes sense. Also if they didn't put DRM in those software, then people would just not buy them anymore. It's going to be that easy to copy. I'm no DRM advocate though, but I can see why they'd do that. At least they didn't make it so that you have to connect to the internet and phone home everytime you wanted to play a game you downloaded.

The cell uses the same instruction set as PPC, so they're quite compatible.

Not only that, but just because you got broadband, doesn't mean that you can download all you want. A lot of people have bandwidth limits, some are very limiting. And games nowadays can take up quite a lot of space.

I'd rate this a 10 Informative if possible :( This game needs more attention. It's so good it's coming on the Wii

Because pointers are scary.

Why is this story tagged DRM o_O Disabling a feature for a specific country isn't considered to be DRM, right?

Meh. I can't wait for the day we see a guitarist turn into a commando and rid the world of neo-nazis