Jordanian Bloggers Triumph Against TRC

Well, it seems the pressure from bloggers, journalists and various IT-activists has caused the Telecommunications Regulation Committee (TRC) to unblock Sykpe!

This has got to be one of the few cases of a governmental organization in Jordan reversing its decision due to civil pressures.

The Jordan Times published a story on October 13, 2006. Here it is:

Skype services back on track

By Ramsey Tesdell

AMMAN — The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has decided to allow Skype services to resume a month after they were blocked.

Director of the commission’s regulatory department, Al Ansari Al Mashaqbah, confirmed yesterday that the recent decision to block Skype had been reversed.

The official told The Jordan Times that the security issues, cited as the reason for the block, had been resolved.

Skype is a software programme that allows users to make cheap phone calls over the Internet using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which has grown in popularity in recent years.

The commission had sent a fax to all Internet service providers in the Kingdom on September 13 to notifiy them of the decision to block the use of Skype.

Technical support representatives at Batelco and Wanado confirmed that they had received word from the commission ordering them to block the Skype website and that all Internet service providers in the country had been asked to abide by this new policy.

The fax said Skype had been blocked because of security reasons.

The popular software programme uses an encryption method that came under attack recently. Technical support representatives at Wanado said the reasons Skype was being targeted was because of possible terrorist activity, and the inability to monitor Skype conversations.

A similar instance in China’s Shenzhen Province saw Skype services blocked for a short time until it abided by local laws. China Telecom, which ordered it blocked, reversed its decision after security issues were resolved.

Meanwhile, Skype users in the country reacted to the order to block VoIP services with dismay.

David DeBartolo uses Skype to communicate with colleagues around the world while living in Amman. DeBartolo, a Fulbright researcher with the Binational Fulbright Commission, was one of the first to discover that Skype services had been suspended.

Upon contacting the commission, he received a response that Skype services had been blocked for security reasons.

“Justification that it was blocked for security reasons is unfounded and absolute nonsense,” said Omar Qawas, a professional in the IT business, who has been using Skype for two years to stay in contact with friends and colleagues around the world.

Qawas told The Jordan Times that Skype was “a reliable alternative to using regular phones or mobiles, and much more cost-effective.”

Skype blocked in Jordan, users outraged

Throughout the past month, the Telecommunications Regulatory Committee (TRC) has been sending letters to Internet Service Providers in Jordan, ordering them to block Skype’s website.

Skype is a free Internet telephony service which enables users to make international phone calls without passing through Jordan Telecom's network.

This means that Skype is causing a lose of revenue to Jordan Telecom, which it used to make from international calls in particular, as do all licensed suppliers who sell calling cards; as there services also pass through Jordan Telecom's local lines.

Simply, a number of local players in the telecom market were losing business because of Skype, and it seems their pressure on the TRC, the body which licensed these telecom companies and collects annual fees from them, has finally resulted in action against Internet telephony in Jordan.

From a user perspective, abruptly preventing the use of Skype in Jordan seems like a tyrannical action aimed at canceling a free service to force users to pay local telecom operators for their national and international calls. Any consumer who was getting something for free will be unhappy.

As you would expect, Jordanian bloggers are outraged, and they're making all sorts of accusations and judgments on this matter, ranging from bruising crtisizm of the TRC and Jordan Telecom all the way up to deciding that Jordan is no longer a liberal economic environment!

While their frustration is understandable, their analysis seems to be getting out of hand. I don't blame them. I blame the TRC for totally mismanaging this issue.

It is surprising that the TRC did not make an official statement in this regard, explaining this action to the public and, possibly, trying to argue its case of how it's in the best interest of the national economy to protect local telecom investors; or whatever other reasons the TRC can reveal.

Doing it this way, by quietly sending orders to ISPs, then users waking up the next morning to find they can't access their favorite telephony service just creates outrage and very bad publicity for the TRC and Jordan Telecom.

If there shall be no reversal of this decision, the very least to do now is make an official statement about it, outlining the government's policies regarding voice over IP and unlicensed Internet telephony services and explaining to consumers the other options they still have available, which although not free like Skype, may be very reasonably priced.

Consumers in Jordan nowadays are sophisticated and knowledgable. If the TRC must make painful decisions, then it must treat consumers with respect, communicating with them and explaining such actions.

One of the TRC’s goals is to maintain the competitiveness and fair practice of the telecom sector to the benefit of the consumer. Maybe the TRC should start talking to the consumer first.

(Published in The Star)
zanasser@gmail.com

The notebook battery fiasco continues

If you thought the events of last month, with Apple, Dell and Sony recalling hundreds of thousands of notebook batteries, was the last you would hear about this matter; think again!

Dell, one of last month’s “battery-gate” victims, said last week that it is increasing the recall of Sony-manufactured battery packs used in its systems to 4.2 million units from 4.1 million units.

Again, if you don’t know what this story is about - where were you last
month- it is feared that these faulty batteries can short-circuit and cause some computers to overheat and even catch fire.

The problem also got bigger, with new guests joining the party: IBM and Toshiba.
IBM and Lenovo Group, the world’s third-largest computer maker, said that they were seeking the recall of 526,000 rechargeable, lithium-ion batteries from Sony purchased with ThinkPad computers, after one of them caught fire at Los Angeles International Airport this month.

Also, Toshiba said this week it is recalling 830,000 batteries made by Sony for its laptops at Sony’s request. Toshiba claim there have not been any reported incidents of over-heating by customers, but that the fault their notebooks are suffering from is one that makes the PC run out power. So, no ‘explosions’ yet on the Toshiba front.

These recent announcements takes the tally of Sony-manufactured batteries being recalled to about 7 million worldwide. And the current line-up of suspect manufacturers are: Sony, Apple, IBM, Dell, Toshiba.

It must be worrying that they’re among the biggest in the world. This list is only missing HP/Compaq and Acer, after which it will become a truly universal recall!

More technical information is being revealed, regarding the cause of this over-heating. Apparently, during production in Japan, tiny shards of metal were left in the cells, which can cause a short-circuit. The recall was issued after six confirmed instances of overheating or fire involving Dell systems with batteries made by Sony.

After the fiasco last month, it’s not very surprising that it’s happening again, and don’t be surprised if other PC manufacturers joining the band- wagon in months to come.

Any expert in the field of manufacturing would tell you that one or two faulty battery batches mean that there are many more. It seems as if PC manufacturers are playing a public relations game, releasing the bad news gradually.
All you can do is remember when you bought your notebook, if it’s from one of the above manufacturers, and take action.

Don’t be complacent. No one wants a Jordanian PC owner to make it into the international media for all the wrong reasons: “Notebook in Jordan explodes.
Authorities emphasize it was not a terror incident”.

zanasser@gmail.com