Posts Tagged ‘blog’

Malaysia Today Mirror

Malaysia-Today IP: 202.75.62.114
Malaysia-Today alternate URL: http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008/
Start using OpenDNS to avoid the pain.read more…


Mainstream media, always picking up things late. I’ve already suggested that they may soon be irrelevant as they’re only propaganda machinery, governed by the Minister of Propaganda (current ruling BN – go read George Orwell).

The Star is reporting that all ISPs ordered to cut access to the Malaysia Today site. Apparently, Malaysia has 21 ISPs – who knew, this? It goes on to say:


The notices were sent out on Tuesday in accordance with Section 263 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

“This means that MCMC is allowed to block any particular website which has committed acts that contravene the local laws of the country, for example, sedition,” the source said.

Read ACT 588 – COMMUNICATIONS AND MULTIMEDIA ACT 1998 if you’re so inclined. If bored, the MCMC has a list of Acts that come under their purview.

Raja Petra hosts the site in a MyLoca data centre… owned and operated by TMNet. What’s next, turning off his tubes?

I don’t particularly read RPK, but I do find it disturbing that they’ve chosen to censor the Internet. In his usual flamboyant self, RPK says:


“The Government has clearly broken its own promise,” said Raja Petra yesterday. Asked whether he was notified of the reasons of the blocking, he answered no.

“I will turn this into a big issue, no doubt. When it is known that the Government has violated the charter, MSC will die. I will personally see to it,” he said.

Bloggers' Rights at EFF

Companies, thinking about coming to Malaysia, using the MSC status? Think twice… its starting to seem more and more like Beijing. I like how he says the “MSC will die” – the way I look at it, the MSC never took off as the then Prime Minister, Mahathir said it would. You don’t hear Cyberjaya being synonymous with Bangalore, do you? Topic for discussion, another day.

I urge more people to put up EFF badges supporting bloggers rights. Don’t let this wannabe-autocratic government take over.

N/B: Title says “mirror” as opposed to alternate URL… It makes it easier for indexing, afaik.

Malaysia starts censoring bloggers

Today, is one that I consider, a dark day in Malaysian Internet history. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), ordered all ISPs to block access to a website, thereby violating the MSC Bill of Guarantees, which clearly states: Ensure no Internet censorship.

Malaysiakini reports (subscription required, so relevant bits pasted here):


MCMC chief operating officer Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, when contacted today, confirmed that the block was ordered by the commission, which is the regulatory body for online content.

“It is being blocked because we found that some of the comments on the website were insensitive, bordering on incitement,” he told Malaysiakini.

Malaysiakini goes on to add, that this is the first time something like this has been used against non-pornographic websites. I will argue that this shouldn’t even be used on pornographic websites – sure it may flaunt the laws of the country, but leave it to the end-user, please.

It’s just a DNS blackhole, so its not quite Internet censorship… But this makes you feel so much closer to Beijing now, doesn’t it?


lovegood:~ byte$ dig www.malaysia-today.net @cns1.tm.net.my

; < <>> DiG 9.4.2-P1 < <>> www.malaysia-today.net @cns1.tm.net.my
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER< <- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 25306 ;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;www.malaysia-today.net. IN A ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: malaysia-today.net. 3600 IN SOA ns1.blocked. blocked.tm.net.my. 1 900 600 86400 3600 ;; Query time: 17 msec ;; SERVER: 202.188.0.132#53(202.188.0.132) ;; WHEN: Wed Aug 27 23:33:57 2008 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 104

TMNet has a known list of DNS servers, the most common being: 202.188.1.5 and 202.188.0.133. Apparently, some also get on 202.188.1.4 and 202.188.0.132. There are a bunch more that you can get, too.

Malaysiakini goes on to report:


Mohamed Sharil said MCMC had instructed all ISPs to block access to Malaysia Today based on complaints received by the general public regarding offensive comments posted on the website.

Asked if the move to block Malaysia Today went against the government’s guarantee of Internet freedom, he said that the matter was subject to interpretation.

“We are governed by the Communications and Multimedia Act (1998) which allows us to take preventive measures and advise our license holders (such as ISPs) when a service user may be contravening national laws,” he said.

Under Section 263 of the Act, a licensee must “use his best endeavour” to prevent his/her facilities from being used to violate any law in the country”.

Mohamed Sharil said that MCMC will be communicating with the Malaysia Today owner Raja Petra Kamaruddin and other blog owners soon regarding “ethical blogging”.

“We are not against blogs, but we would like to see ethical blogging,” he stressed.

Ethical blogging. Expect yet another blog post on this, soon. In a country where mainstream media is stifled, and used as a propaganda machine, its no wonder people turn to the Internet. If the mainstream media reports “lies”, why not the Internet? The people, the rakyat are smart enough to distinguish, in this non-communist state of ours.

So, if you need your Malaysia Today fix, the IP address is still valid – 202.75.62.114. For commenting, try http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008/.

Bloggers' Rights at EFF

For the smarter ones amongst you, I suggest you stop using TMNet’s DNS services. Switch to OpenDNS (I would suggest switching ISP, but welcome to the monopoly that is Malaysia, right?). You can change it on your computer or router, or just use the nameservers if you know how: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. Otherwise, there are ways to change it on Windows (XP, Vista, 2000), Mac OS X (Leopard, Tiger) or even Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora).

OpenDNS is a workaround. The real problem is the MCMC attempting to censor the Internet. They are attempting to stifle free speech, and the freedom to discuss pertinent issues in an open fashion. I’ve mused about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights before, maybe its time the politicians read it, again.

Update: Its worth noting that Bernice Low wrote about this in her CNet blog as well.

Malaysia Airlines embraces the blogosphere

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a big fan of Malaysia Airlines. However, I have to hand it to them, with their new blog, titled Living Malaysian Hospitality (eating, breathing, sleeping MH; MH, their airline code, is now being themed as Malaysian Hospitality, something I think is utter bollocks from their service quality, or lack thereof).

Powered by WordPress 2.5.1, the blog is well-themed, and has been going on since April 2008. For a government-linked company (GLC), I am impressed that they’re embracing modern web technologies, and starting to speak to their customers. They’re giving the company a visible face, and going by the buttons, are not afraid to support Digg, del.icio.us, myspace, and Facebook. They are even hosting videos on YouTube!

They’re brave enough, to print customer letters (from our guests). So far, its all rosy, and they naturally reserve the right to publish only articles that put them in a good light, but Idris Jala has stated: “We want to hear from the customers, whether good or bad.”

This in my opinion can open up the floodgates of complaints, which can then help improve services eventually. There are 30 bloggers at present, and while the blog will not be published in real-time (it takes 24 hours for “approval” – pretty good for a corporate blog), I’m wondering why “Both comments and pings are currently closed.”

Congratulations on opening up MAS, and I sincerely hope that comments will be opened up soon as well. Remember, the whole idea of a blog is not a one-way conversation, which in itself isn’t a conversation. Note that your great competitor, AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes, already writes comments on random blogs…

Checking in photography equipment?

I’ve been on what I consider, a blogging break. In reality, I’ve been working, and then having a modicum of a social life, finding less and less time to write blog entries. I have morsels of half-baked ramblings saved, so expect a load of posts to show up soon…

luna:toblog ccharles$ ls |wc -l
29

For a comeback…

I have been checking in my photographic equipment. I already carry a backpack with 2 laptops and various other tech gear (it probably weighs in at around 10KG, which airlines can frown at). Of late, I’ve also started carrying a briefcase. Where does my camera gear fit? In checked-in luggage of course!

This can be anywhere in the reigns of 3 Canon bodies, a 30/1.4, 50/1.4, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 17-40/4, and a couple of flash units. Not exactly the cheapest of equipment, as I’m into good glass (read: L).

However, the one place I don’t tend to check equipment in, is when I fly to and from the US. The TSA have a silly rule that says your bags must be unlocked, or else they will break the lock for you. This has naturally led the paranoid me, not want to carry any professional camera gear into the US.

And today, my paranoia proves right. I found out that Matt (WordPress fame) lost his camera gear, as did another blogger.

Yes, this is on a certain particular American airline, but I wonder if its just baggage handlers that are dishonest with them, or baggage handlers that are dishonest in general? Also note that insurance tends not to pay (afaik, anyway) if your camera equipment or laptop gear is checked-in.

What are options for the technophiles in us, that fly a lot?


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