By IPS Correspondents
ABU DHABI, Jul 8 1996 (IPS)

Worried that its citizens are misusing the global computer communications network, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has warned that it will cut off subscribers who obtain banned information on the Internet.

The Ministry of Information is giving finishing touches to a law to control access to the network linking computers across the world, better known as the Net. This will be enacted soon, says Abdul Aziz Abdulah, legal adviser to the Ministry.

The warning comes even as authorities in the conservative Gulf federation are locked in a public controversy over the control of the Internet.

The government wants the Information Ministry and the police, rather than UAE telecom giant Etislat, to have the authority to issue Net licences.

Last week, the Internet National Strategic Committee, set up by the Dubai police this year, advised setting up of a panel representing the seven Emirates to develop “policies regulating the use of the information networks.”

It said that Etislat must be asked to follow rules regulating the distribution of “materials violating public morals or infringing state security and sovereignty.” “Minors should be barred from accessing adult sites on the internet,” it added.

Local telecom experts say Etisalat can currently block access to 200 Net sites sites dispensing pornography, but not all. More than 6,000 individuals, companies and government agencies are hooked up to the Internet in the UAE.

‘Net browsing’ — exploring different sites listed on the Internet — has fast become popular here. The Cafe Internet, which opened in Dubai on May 8, is a big draw, with locals, mainly young people spending hours at computer terminals as they sip coffee.

Subscribers are complaining that it is an expensive pastime for average income individuals. Monthly bills range from 200 to 700 dollars.

However, Etislat officials rule out any imminent reduction in rates, specially at a time when they are being publicly criticised for distributing sexually explicit material.

“I don’t think the time is right to rock the boat because we are coming under tremendous pressure from certain parties to deny access to families and young men,” says one official, requesting anonymity.

Some experts say that modern technology has made it possible to screen Net information. Con Dietz, Director of the UAE University Computer Centre, advises a system of “registered encrypting” for security reasons and personal codes for users to keep track of usage.

However, most think it is impossible for Etislat to block access to all sites on the network. The Internet provider is said to have cut off direct connection between local subscribers and pornography-dispensing sites, but subscribers can still get to them using indirect links, they point out.

Etislat hopes to complete work on its ‘proxy server’ by September which will make it easier for it control Net information entering the UAE.

Ali Qassem of the Dubai police research and studies centre agrees that it is impossible to block access to Internet information. He, however, thinks the Gulf states can learn from Singapore’s experience with Internet.

“When Singaporean authorities realised blocks were not going to be totally effective, they launched a wide awareness campaign, seeking to make the people refrain from accessing pornography.”

“Parents can make use of specific software to block access on individual terminals,” he adds.

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