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Risks messages -- tracking, Singapore, Pakistan
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Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 18:29:02 PST
From: RISKS Forum
RISKS-LIST: RISKS-FORUM Digest Tuesday 7 March 1995 Volume 16 : Issue 87
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Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 10:47:47 -0800
From: Li Gong
(1) The Manchester Guardian Weekly (week ending March 4, 1995) reported that, in this year's Vienna Marathon, the runners will have to wear specialized computer chips buried inside (or attached to) their shoelaces. The purpose is to ensure that the runners stay on course. Last year, some took short cuts while an Italian rode some distance on the underground (subway). [LG: It is of course easy for one runner to help carry another's shoelaces, but at least collusion is now required.] [Or, put your shoelaces on an accomplice's bicycyle, and take public transit? PGN]
[...]
Li GONG Email: gong@csl.sri.com Tel: 415-859-3232 Fax: 415-859-2844 SRI International, Computer Science Lab, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
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Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 14:08:14 -0800
From: Robert Ashcroft
This week's Economist (issue of March 4) has an article about the attitude of the Singapore govt to soc.culture.singapore and the idea of the Internet in general.
The Singapore govt is perhaps not the most liberal in the world, and in particular is highly critical of "western influence". On the one hand it seeks to keep Singapore technologically up to date by wiring the country to the Internet, on the other hand it seeks to maintain control over what its population sees, two obviously incompatible goals. In particular it's concerned about "incorrect" things written in soc.culture.singapore. The information minister, George Yeo, suggests that the youth league of the ruling People's Action Party should set up some sort of truth squad to counteract incorrect posts.
This is a road down which I would just as soon not have a government walk. Could they resist taking the next step, namely forging cancellations and so forth (as for instance, the Church of Scientology seems to have done)?
The Internet is a threat to any regime that tries to restrict in anyway what their people see. My own feeling is that any attempt to control it, short of disconnecting it altogether, will be doomed. As The Economist notes, on the Internet, nobody gets the last word. However, I imagine there will be numerous battles before that sinks in. I wonder how many intelligence agencies now have separate Internet sections, studying such things as Internet sabotage methods and the like.
RNA
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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 16.87
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Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 12:58:08 PST
From: RISKS Forum
RISKS-LIST: RISKS-FORUM Digest Weds 8 March 1995 Volume 16 : Issue 88
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 17:21:30 GMT From: Ben_Burch@wes.mot.com (Burch Ben) Subject: Interesting cellular news from Pakistan
From misc.news.southasia Sun Mar 5 17:56:49 1995 From: abdutta@icaen.uiowa.edu (Abhijit Dutta) Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 00:34:16 GMT Newsgroups: misc.news.southasia Subject: Pakistan Forces Motorola To Halt Cellular Services In Karachi Voice of America, March 04, 1995 By Jennifer Griffin Islamabad: The Pakistan government has forced the US telecommunications giant, Motorola, to halt mobile telephone service to the country's strife-torn city, Karachi. Pakistani officials are demanding Motorola hand over sophisticated eavesdropping equipment that would allow intelligence agencies to tap into phone calls made on the company's cellular network. Analysts are saying the government's action is not encouraging to foreign investors. The Pakistan government claims it is trying to crack down on Karachi terrorists using mobile telephones to coordinate attacks and organize violence in the ravaged city. In a memo to James Beneda, the president of Mobilink -- Motorola's Pakistani joint venture -- the communications ministry demanded equipment needed to tap into all calls made by its subscribers be given to the government. Without these sophisticated scanners, intelligence agents would not be able to tap into the cellular network. It is the first time the government has admitted such tapping and eavesdropping is commonplace in Pakistan. Mobilink's service to Karachi was cut by the government January fourth. According to Mobilink's regional manager, Zahid Hussain, two other cellular phone companies presently operating in Karachi have not had their service interrupted because their calls are easily tapped. "The facility the other two cellular companies have, all you do is buy a 200-dollar scanner from Hong Kong or wherever, and you can walk the streets and just keep tuning into different frequencies and listening to people's conversations." Mr. Hussain says his company will comply with some of the government's demands and will deliver the mobile scanning equipment sometime this month. But, there remain other obstacles to resuming operations. The government has also demanded Mobilink not expand its number of subscribers from the present 3000 -- a request mobilink officials say they cannot possibly honor. US state department officials and Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown are said to have brought the matter to the attention of Pakistan's Washington Ambassador, Maleeha Lodhi. The US-based company has invested more than 32-million dollars in establishing its Pakistani operation since last August, and intended to invest nearly 20-million dollars more this year. The scandal has caused many foreign businessmen to rethink their investment in Pakistan, where they say licensing agreements are easily rewritten and often disregarded. Mr. Hussain says the government's handling of the incident sends a negative signal to foreign investors, particularly on the eve of prime minister Benazir Bhutto's trip next month to the United States.
Ben Burch Motorola Wireless Data Group Ben_Burch@wes.mot.com
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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 16.88
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