All Content Related to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Commonwealth of Independent States

evan — Tue, 15 May 2007 14:55:21 -0400

Overview

As a former superpower—with a tradition of authoritarianism, poorly developed independent media, and lack of private rights—the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) would seem to be an ideal setting for substantive and pervasive Internet controls.1 The reality, however, is variegated and complex. While the CIS region is home to some of the world’s most repressive measures and advanced techniques for subtly “shaping” Internet access, it also showcases examples of just how profoundly the Internet can affect social and political life.

States within this region have a conflicted relationship with the Internet. Most have adopted national development strategies that emphasize information technology (IT) as a means for economic growth, with some even declaring their intent to become regional “IT powerhouses.” IT development is favored because it is seen to leverage the comparative advantage of the ex-Soviet educational system with its emphasis on mathematics and engineering, and the strong tradition of innovation in the computing and technology sector. Until its demise in 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was one of the few countries with a ”homegrown” capacity in supercomputing, cryptography/ crypto-analysis, and worldwide signals intelligence gathering. Currently many former Soviet citizens are among the leaders of the global IT industry.

At the same time, CIS governments are wary of the civil networking and resistance activities that these technologies make possible. In recent years, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan have experienced “color revolutions,” where networked opposition movements (albeit movements that are more reliant on cell phones than on the Internet) have effectively challenged and overturned the results of unpopular (or allegedly fraudulent) elections. Neighboring governments fear that these challenges were made possible by opposition groups leveraging IT to organize domestic protest (often with the help of foreign-funded NGOs), and are therefore wary of leaving the sector unregulated and without control. Many now see the Internet and other communications channels in national strategic terms, and these countries have increasingly turned to security-based arguments—such as the need to secure “national informational space”—to justify regulation of the sector.

In 2006 ONI tested for the presence of filtering in eight of the eleven CIS countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Background and baseline testing was also carried out in a further two countries: the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan, although in these two cases limitations on the testing methodology do not allow us to claim comprehensive results.

Of the eight countries in which ONI tested, our results did not yield significant patterns of substantive or pervasive filtering. Only Uzbekistan pursued pervasive filtering of the kind found in China, Iran, or some parts of the Middle East.2 In almost all countries some degree of filtering was present, but this filtering occurred mostly on corporate networks (such as educational and research networks) where accepted usage policies (AUPs) dictated that inappropriate content was not permitted, or in “edge locations”, such as Internet cafés where the reasons for filtering were more benign (conserving bandwidth) or left to the discretion of the Internet café owners themselves.

At the same time, in all eight countries authorities had taken steps of one kind or another to restrict or regulate their national informational space. These measures include:

expanded use of defamation and slander laws to selectively prosecute and deter bloggers and independent media from posting material critical of the government or specific government officials (however benignly, including, as was the case in Belarus, through the use of humor);
strict criteria pertaining to what is “acceptable” within the national media space, leading to the deregistration of sites that did not comply (Kazakhstan);
moves to compel Internet sites to register as mass media, with noncompliance then being used as grounds for filtering “illegal” content;
national security concerns (Ukraine); and,
in some cases, government officials have “asked” Internet service providers (ISPs)—formally or informally—to temporarily suspend sites detrimental to “public order” (Tajikistan).

The net effect of these sanctions (legal and quasi-legal) is to create overall environments that encourage varying degrees of self-censorship among ISPs, who are fearful of jeopardizing their licenses, and among individuals for whom prosecution or imprisonment is too high a price to pay for voicing criticism, which at times amounts to little more than a form of digital graffiti.

The CIS region: Ethno-cultural diversity and a shared historical space

To define the CIS as a region understates the sheer diversity of the countries and peoples that fall within the former Soviet Union’s historical boundaries. Straddling a swath of Eurasia from the Pacific to the doorsteps of Europe, the Arctic Circle, and the deserts of Central Asia, this vast landmass takes in twelve time zones, some 350 million people, and more than a hundred distinct ethnic groups encompassing all the world’s major religions and at least three major linguistic communities (Slavic, Turkic, Farsi). At the ethno-cultural level, diversity is a defining commonality of this region.

At the same time, the CIS forms an historical community that for seventy years constituted the world’s second major economic, military, and political superpower of the twentieth century, rooted in the same traditions of modernism as the West but oriented around a different set of ideological and organizational principles. These principles emphasized a centralized and administered form of governance where the state rather than the market decided issues of economic and social production, and where overarching leadership was vested in the Communist Party, whose rule was substantiated by ideological precepts that did not allow for dissention or opposition.

Despite this complex multinationalism, the former Soviet Union was dominated by Russia, which endowed the region with a common language (Russian) and popular culture, as well as defined trade, political, and even social ties (including the creation of substantial Russian minorities in some states, which persist to the present day). Even following the USSR’s dissolution and the newly independent states’ adoption of national languages and scripts (in Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and others), CIS countries retained strong ties with Russia. Transportation, communications, and energy routes continue to bind the region together. Russia is currently a major energy supplier to many CIS states, giving it considerable political muscle in the region (which it has not been shy to flex, when needed).

The region’s shared political heritage, and the fact that many present-day leaders in the CIS governments and economies were also in positions of authority during the Soviet era, means that a great deal of formal and informal coordination exists among and between member states, despite political differences that are at times difficult. Furthermore, the loose, informal coordination among officials is helped along by the fact that most countries share the same legal codex and procedures, as well as similar organizational characteristics of the security forces and the distribution of powers among the judiciary, executive, and legislative branches of government.

The Internet in the CIS: Access and political significance

Internet penetration rates in the CIS region are relatively low and clustered among the urban youth—both male and female, perhaps reflecting the “equality” between sexes of the Soviet period.3 Income levels in the CIS are generally low, while the costs of computers and connectivity are relatively high. This means that Internet use is lower than would be expected. Overall, Internet penetration in Russia lags behind that of other industrialized nations (15 percent as of 2005),4 and is relatively high only in large cities (particularly Moscow and St. Petersburg). Among the CIS countries, Belarus has the highest Internet penetration rate of 30 percent; Ukraine and Moldova lag behind with less than 10 percent penetration rate, while the states of Central Asia have the lowest Internet penetration rates. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan lead this latter subgroup with around 8 percent, followed by Kyrgyzstan. The least connected countries are Uzbekistan (3 percent for 2004) and Tajikistan, where only 1 percent of the population has access to the Internet.

However, in all cases these figures may be misleading. Most Internet users rely on “shared” Internet access, through their places of work or study, as well as via Internet cafés, whose use is very high in some countries, (for example, Internet cafés account for over 50 percent of all users in Kyrgyzstan).5 This shared use, and in some cases the creative use of networks such as Fidonet to route traffic to and from the Internet, may result in considerable underestimation of the actual number of users.6

The importance of the Internet to political life varies from low in Tajikistan to high in Uzbekistan. In Russia the relevance of the Internet as a source of news is reported as low; however, this estimation is changing as the Internet the remains one of the few outlets for direct criticism of the government. Moreover, an important aspect of the Internet’s political significance—as a person-to-person backchannel for communications and social networking essential to daily life in the Russia (where personal contacts and an “informal economy of favors” remains a key to “getting ahead”)—remains understudied.7 In this sense, it is interesting to note that in Uzbekistan information obtained from the Internet is accepted as being more accurate than from other sources, reflecting the culture’s strong social networking aspect.

Legal and normative environment

In general, the tendency in all CIS countries has been toward greater government regulation of the Internet to bring it in line with existing regulations that control the mass media (in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, for example). To date government moves to enforce more restrictive Internet environments have rarely been challenged—perhaps a reflection overall of the weakness of “opposition” parties in most countries, as well as poorly defined or tested laws governing the role of independent media. Nonetheless, some exceptions exist. For example, in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan concerted (if quiet) action by “civic” actors led to the reversal of policies aimed at removing politically sensitive content from cyberspace. In Tajikistan political Web sites that were banned during the December 2006 election were restored. And in Azerbaijan a banned Web site that was critical of the government’s policy of raising prices was restored and its author released from police detention. Both cases are significant because the initial order to “ban” the Web sites was opaque from a legal perspective.

The constitutions of (nearly) all CIS countries enshrine principles of freedom of expression and prohibit censorship. Nevertheless, often these provisions are interpreted “flexibly” when it comes to implementation. In Kazakhstan authorities often resort to various quasi-legal or “administrative” mechanisms to suppress “inappropriate” information or shut down oppositional domain names. In Uzbekistan the law on mass media holds journalists and editors responsible for the “veracity” of published materials, which has caused independent media and bloggers to practice self-censorship. The “objectivity” test is applied also in Belarus, where independent journalists, editors, and opposition leaders are frequently subject to prosecutions and arrests.

In legislation and regulation Russia remains a leader in the region, and increasingly has been proactive in seeking influence and extending assistance to other CIS states. Since late 2000 Russia’s “Doctrine of Information Security” has been adapted (in various forms and guises) as the basic precept defining the national strategic value of the Internet and the “national informational space” in most CIS countries.8 Likewise, Russia’s legal approach to Internet surveillance for law enforcement (that is, the System for Operational-Investigative Activities or SORM-II, which allows security services unfettered physical access to ISP networks) has influenced the way in which other CIS countries have approached the problem (see the next section). Some, including Kazakhstan, have adopted the Russian system, while others have mirrored its approach. In Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, specialized units under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Department “K”) have been established to combat “computer crime” with specialized technical units also established in other security services.

Surveillance

Obtaining a telecommunications license in Russia and other CIS states requires close cooperation with state security agencies. Since the mid-1990s a key requirement has been for providers to allow law enforcement and other security agencies with full monitoring access to the communications systems. In Russia the enabling acts and system used to monitor telecommunications, including the Internet, comes under the rubric of SORM-II, which came into effect in 2000.9

At the regulatory and technical level, SORM-II requires ISPs to provide the Federal Security Service (FSB) with statistics about all Internet traffic that goes through the ISP servers (including the time of an online session, the IP address of the user, and the data that were transmitted).10 ISPs themselves are responsible for the cost and maintenance of the hardware and connections. ISP objections to SORM-II, which raised concerns about individual privacy, resulted in the providers being stripped of their licenses.11

In many respects, SORM is not unlike a combination of the Unites States’ Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)12 and the recent “warrantless” provisions for wiretapping, including the PATRIOT Act13 passed after the attacks of 9/11. Russian legislation formally protects individual privacy, prohibiting wiretapping of any kind without a court order.14 As a consequence, SORM requires government personnel to obtain a court order to intercept telephone conversations, electronic communications, or postal correspondence.15 In reality, however, the FSB will not bother to seek a warrant. Recently a senior FSB official sought to apply similar registration requirements for all mobile phones with Internet capabilities. However, despite this formidable surveillance potential, there is doubt about the actual capacity of the FSB to analyze the data collected.16

At present, several CIS countries have followed Russia’s lead in implementing Internet surveillance. These include:

Kazakhstan, which followed the Russian example requiring ISPs to install special software in order to register and maintain electronic records of customers’ Internet activities.
Azerbaijan, which made an unsuccessful attempt to employ technologies similar to the SORM-II. At present surveillance does occur, but mainly by way of visits to ISPs and Internet cafés by officials from the State Security Service.
In Uzbekistan the principal intelligence agency, the National Security Service (SNB), monitors the Uzbek segment of the Internet and works with the main regulatory body to impose censorship. As all ISPs must rent channels from the state monopoly providers, credible anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that Internet traffic is recorded and a monitored via a centralized system purchased from an Israeli vendor.
In Ukraine the security services have developed a capacity to monitor Internet traffic and legislation has been proposed to limit access to “questionable” content for reasons of national security. The security services are also empowered to initiate criminal investigations and use wiretapping devices.
In Belarus special services conduct active and warrantless surveillance of Internet activities under the pretext of national security using a system similar to SORM-II.

Transparency

As former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said when asked about the Soviet Union, “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is … national interest." Transparency with regard to filtering practices varies across the region, but in all cases it is defined by the interest of the state (or the group that holds the reins of power). Protection of state interests (usually cast in terms of national security or the protection of public or cultural values) generally trump the written rules for regulation of Internet content, although often the laws themselves are ambiguous and open to interpretation. In addition, the restrictive practices of states are often fairly subtle. As an example, Uzbekistan—which was until recently the most egregious Internet censor in the region—denied that it was engaged in censorship practices. The plausibility of this claim was increased because filtering was neither uniform nor universal across all ISPs, which left open the possible, although highly improbable, chance that observed filtering practices were self-imposed by ISPs rather than proscribed by higher ups. Such subtle approaches allow the state “plausible deniability” of any wrong doing and require a great deal of contextual research to uncover the sources of the practice.

Overall a general lack of transparency affects most political/legal issues in the CIS, not only the issue of Internet filtering. Often official laws are breeched in subtle but effective ways. For example, in Azerbaijan the author of a Web site critical of the government was detained without formal arrest; this was never followed up by any formal legal sanctions. In other cases, such as the pervasive filtering policies of Internet cafés throughout the region, the decision to limit content is formally controlled by the café owners, so it is difficult to argue whether their filtering results from a fear of sanction for allowing politically sensitive material to be accessed, or from personal choice. Certainly for most Internet café owners, the objective is to make a living, not to run for office. So if certain content stands in the way of business, then it is not a difficult choice to decide what measures to take. In Tajikistan, for example, research suggests that filtering is really based on economic choices rather than any overt fear of political sanction from the security forces.

Emergent forms of information control

Overt Internet filtering, such as that undertaken by China or Iran, is unlikely to occur in the CIS. First, because only in a very few cases (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan) is the government disposed to effecting an informational blockade of the country that could, in turn, jeopardize economic prospects and stifle the “scientific potential” of these technologies. Second, as noted above, governments generally have more subtle legal and quasi-legal methods for putting pressure on content and access providers to remove or otherwise eliminate “undesirable” content, so there is little need to resort to overt technical means such as filtering. Third, many CIS states are dependent on development aid and trade, and have oriented themselves toward integration with Europe and the broader global economic system. Engaging in widespread filtering of the kind conducted by China or Iran would present the risk of being labeled as an “international human rights pariah,” an eventuality that most CIS countries would rather avoid. Fourth, and perhaps most important, those CIS states that are concerned by the Internet’s empowering potential—that is, their potential to make possible further "color revolutions”—have found more subtle technical means for ensuring that these capacities are curtailed,if and when necessary.

Event-based interventions

The CIS is the first region in which ONI research documented the presence of “event-based” filtering. This form of filtering differs in technical execution from more conventional filtering forms (such as those that rely on bloc lists) and is more difficult to track and definitively ascertain. For example, during Kyrgyzstan’s 2005 parliamentary elections, two ISPs were disrupted by distributed denial of service attacks (DDOS), and then a “hacker for hire” posted threats to the affected ISPs’ visitor logs, stating that unless these sites stayed offline the attacks would continue.17 The DDOS attacks effectively disrupted the ISPs’ services because the hacker exploited the ISPs’ narrow bandwidths and dependence on a single satellite-based connection. To this day is it unclear who hired the hackers responsible for the attack, although an investigation by ONI found that they were based in Ukraine (and were also responsible for an attack on a U.S. site using the same “bot” network). The opposition accused the government of ordering the attacks as a means of undermining the opposition. The government responded by ordering the affected ISPs to keep their resources online, but this was impossible because the DDOS attack had degraded their ability to provide any services. In the end, the attack was stopped as a result of U.S. legal action against the originating “bot net,” which had also been attacking a U.S. site. When the “bot net” was taken down, the attacks against the Kyrgyz sites also stopped.

During the March 2006 presidential elections in Belarus, several opposition Web sites became suddenly inaccessible, ostensibly by innocuous network faults and DNS failures. Likewise, at the peak of protests against the election results, a major Minsk-based ISP ceased to provide dialup services owing to “technical problems.” These occurrences meant that important independent media and opposition political Web sites were not accessible at periods when the information they were conveying could have had political significance or acted as a catalyst for further political action. Although nothing transpired that could be identified as extralegal filtering, de facto access was not available when and where needed, with some evidence suggesting that tampering may have been afoot.18

This form of “event-based” information control, which temporally “shapes” Internet access, can be said to represent the emerging “2.0 version of Internet controls.” Not unlike the shorter supply line chains that boasted manufacturing efficiencies under “just in time “ production, event-based filtering can also be considered to be “just in time” as it offers greater efficiencies in denying access to information when and where it is needed. At the same time this form of targeted and time-limited filtering is much harder to prove, which also removes the potential liabilities of being “caught” undertaking more deliberative filtering.

Upstream filtering

For its size, the CIS region has a relatively underdeveloped telecommunications system, much of which remains centered on Russia. At the same time, the region itself is contiguous with (or borders) Europe, Asia, and—via the circumpolar route—North America. This centrality means that most countries in the region obtain connectivity from several different sources beyond Russia. This situation has created some interesting patterns in filtering behavior, such as similar content becoming inaccessible across several different countries, but with different filtering patterns amongst content providers within any single country. ONI research into this phenomenon is still preliminary, and thus we are not yet in a position to provide conclusive evidence or observations on its implications.

However, preliminary indications suggest that providers reselling connectivity to CIS countries may be providing pre-filtered access, passing on filtered content either as part of their service offering or as a consequence of the policies they use to manage traffic on their own networks. This form of blocking, which we have dubbed “upstream” filtering (indicating that the filtering is happening in a jurisdiction other than that of the state in question), was first observed during ONI testing in Uzbekistan in 2004. At that time the traffic of one Uzbek ISP was clearly filtered using a pattern similar to that employed by Chinese ISPs. Further investigation revealed that the Uzbek ISP was buying connectivity from China Telecom, which in this case may have sold access to its network as it would to a regular Chinese client. Our 2006 testing suggested similar patterns of prepackaged filtering affecting Internet services within several other CIS states where ISPs had purchased their connectivity from a Russian provider.

Conclusions

The CIS region is experiencing a general trend toward greater regulation and control of the national information space, which includes the Internet. Although most CIS countries do not practice the substantive or pervasive filtering—Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan excepted—Internet content control through regulation or intimidation is growing throughout the region. In most cases, the legislative and judicial framework for filtering (or other restrictions) is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Moreover the laws are often unevenly applied, with “flexible” implementation often paired with other more subtle (but effective) measures designed to promote self-restraint (or self–censorship) of both ISP providers as well as content producers. Information control—in particular the protection of national informational space—is clearly an issue of concern throughout the CIS, and has encouraged more stringent attention to telecommunications surveillance (as has been happening in other parts of the world, most notably the United States). In addition, measures to protect regimes in power and stifle opposition are often couched in the language of “national security,” and have resulted in the development of new measures and techniques aimed at temporally "shaping" access to information at strategic moments, such as “event-based filtering.” Another innovation that merits further investigation is “upstream filtering.” Although these new measures are not present in all CIS countries, they are indicative of a new seriousness with which strategies for information control are being developed.

In 2007 a number of critical elections will take place in Russia and several other CIS countries. In the Russian case, exiled billionaire Boris Berezovsky has expressed his intent to overturn the existing regime. The Internet and other forms of communications technologies are expected to play an important role in the electoral process, and as such they will no doubt be the object of many actors’ attention.

Last, the re-emergence of stronger states in the region following more than a decade of transition, and general unhappiness concerning U.S. policies in the region (which have, over the past ten years, promoted media freedom and an active if foreign-funded civil society), is also sparking a degree of “blow-back” and renewed competition between East and West. For example, ONI research found that many “.mil” sites are not reachable in the CIS, suggesting that these may be subject to “supply-side” filtering by U.S. authorities.19 Between greater assertiveness on the part of CIS states and the stimulus of renewed interstate competition, the CIS is a region to watch as a global actor shaping norms that will govern the Internet into the future.

Authors: Rafal Rohozinski, Vesselina Haralampieva

NOTES

1. The CIS consists of eleven countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan has been an associated member since 2005. With a strong political and economic influence over its neighboring countries, Russia remains the predominant political actor and strategic economic power in the group.
2. Turkmenistan’s Internet is even more tightly restricted, with access available only via a single government provider. While our lack of test results do not allow us to conclusively map the extent of filtered content, preliminary analysis indicates that the approach taken by Turkmen authorities is similar to that of Myanmar, employing a "white list" that allows only permitted sites to be visited.
3. Internet users in the CIS are predominantly young, aged between fifteen and twenty-five. Around 55 percent of all users in Azerbaijan belong to this age group, compared with 60 percent in Kyrgyzstan and similar percentages in Uzbekistan. The number of women using Internet in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is equal to or larger than the number of their male counterparts. The proportion is slightly in favor of men in Ukraine, while in Tajikistan only 22.5 percent of the Internet users are women.
4. See International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
5. In Kazakhstan 28.4 percent of users access Internet at home, and 27.5 percent in Azerbaijan. The workplace is also a critical access point in Kazakhstan (27.2 percent), Moldova, Belarus, and Uzbekistan. In contrast, cybercafés in Kyrgyzstan are the main Internet access point in the country (for approximately 57 percent of users).
6. Rafal Rohozinski, “Mapping Russian cyberspace: Perspectives on democracy and the Net,” United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Discussion Paper 115, October 1999. Available at unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/ public/documents/UNTC/UNPAN016092.pdf.
7. Alena Ledeneva, How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business, Ithica: Cornell University Press, 2006.
8. Doctrine of the Information Security of the Russian Federation, September 9, 2000, No. Pr-1895, http://www.medialaw.ru/e_pages/laws/project/d2-4.htm.
9. See http://www.libertarium.ru/libertarium/37988.
10. See http://www.iworld.ru/magazine/index.phtml?fnct=page&p=93433812, (last accessed April 10, 2007).
11. See http://www.libertarium.ru/libertarium/14424/def_article_t?PRINT_VIEW=YES and http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990726S0003 (last accessed April 1, 2007).
12. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), passed in 1994 (Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279).
13. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001, (H.R.3162), http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.3162.ENR.
14. Article 23 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm.
15. See http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=416.
16. Interview with Andrei Richter, Director, Media Law and Policy Institute, Moscow State University, in Moscow, Russia, March 28, 2006; Interview with Alexey Simonov, President, Glasnost Defense Foundation, in Moscow, Russia, March 27, 2006.
17. See “Election monitoring in Kyrgyzstan,” ONI Special Report, February 15, 2005, http://www.opennetinitiative.net/special/kg/.
18. See "The Internet and elections: The 2006 presidential election in Belarus," ONI Internet Watch 001, http://www.opennetinitiative.net/belarus/.
19. The inaccessibility of U.S.military Web sites was not limited to the CIS region but was also observed in numerous countries around the world. Future research will focus on this issue of filtering that is carried out by Web site hosts based on geolocation.

Moldova

evan — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:38:31 -0400

Background

In the early 1990s, as a newly sovereign state, Moldova experienced both political and economical turmoil. Separatist movements erupted in two regions: Gagauzia, which later obtained autonomy, and the unrecognized breakaway state of Transdniester. The Transdniester region operates as an independent (albeit unrecognized) state with separate telecommunications and broadcasting networks.

Moldova has one of the lowest Internet development levels in Eastern Europe, and ranks 109th worldwide on the U.N. Global E-readiness Survey of 2005.1 Yet the government has prioritized information communications technology (ICT) as means for national development and adopted a National ICT Strategy designed to align the sector with EU norms and standards via the EU sponsored Electronic South Eastern Europe initiative (eSEE). Certain aspects of “e-government,” such as the state registration database (registru.md) that acts as a central portal for all government department and services, are highly advanced and have been used as a model for other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Some human rights groups have voiced concerns that the database is too comprehensive and lacks oversight. Given that the legal basis for protecting citizens’ rights to privacy is not yet defined, the information held in the database represents a risk for unwarranted (and unprecedented) surveillance. The president, a former internal ministry general, supports the register, which is not surprising given that it was originally developed within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The telecommunications sector in Moldova is formally liberalized, but the government has faced problems privatizing the main operator.

Internet in Moldova

Internet users in Moldova have tripled since 2002 and penetration currently stands at 10 percent of the population.2 However, development is constrained by a lack of quality infrastructure, low affordability, and the slow development of the telecommunications sector. A national survey indicates that 24.1 percent of the population claim the Internet is very expensive and difficult to afford.3 Ownership of personal computers is low, with only 3 percent penetration (as of 2004). Nearly half of users access the Internet from their place of work, 33.6 percent use Internet at home, and 8.1 percent use public access points.4

Moldova has seven tier-one providers: Globnet, Moldtelecom, Telemedia, MDL.NET (MegaDat), Dynamic Network Technologies (DNT), Relsoft, and Riscom. A further eleven Internet service providers (ISPs) provide access to all regions of the country. International Internet traffic is routed by way of providers in Europe. The telecommunications market is dominated by Moldtelecom, which retains its near monopoly position in the market. Most of the seventeen ISPs rent infrastructure from Moldtelecom. All ISPs exchange traffic via an Internet exchange point located at Moldtelecom.

Fixed-line and mobile teledensity remain underdeveloped, as do Internet and broadband penetration; however, all have recorded solid growth.5 According to the national telecom regulator, dialup connections in the first nine months of 2006 rose by 88.9 percent (375,500), while broadband connections in this period tripled to 16,900. International Internet bandwidth in the country is 410 Mb/s for 2005.6 In 2006, mobile phone ownership jumped to 32.2 percent. There are more than fourteen operators providing Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services on the international voice market, although Moldtelecom has retained the largest share.7 Operators need to obtain a license in order to offer IP services.

Over 3,000 domain names are registered in the country code top-level domains (“.md”).8 The most popular languages accessed by Internet users are Romanian, Russian, and English. The most-visited local Web site is the news agency site Azi (www.azi.md). The most-used search engines are www.ournet.md, www.super.md, and www.mail.ru.

Legal and regulatory frameworks

To meet requirements set by the World Trade Organization, the telecommunications market was liberalized on January 1, 2004. The main operator decreased its tariffs on average by 25 percent, allowing other providers into the market.9 However, low computer penetration rates and inconsistent government policy remain major impediments to Internet growth. The state has officially committed to developing Moldova’s information society, including promoting e-governance, although certain policies undermine with these objectives. The main telecommunications operator and top-tier ISP in the country, Moldtelecom, remains under state control despite large-scale criticism. ISPs rent access from Moldtelecom’s well-developed infrastructure, which increases their costs and diminishes their competitiveness.

The ISPs are licensed by the National Agency for Telecommunications and Information Regulation (NATIR),10 the main telecommunications regulator in Moldova. The law and corresponding regulation do not require special requirements for receiving a license. NATIR is responsible for issuing and suspending licenses, establishing license fees, and enforcing sanctions where necessary. In addition it regulates the management of the country’s highest-level Internet domain (“.md”). NATIR was established with an amendment to the Law on Telecommunications, which introduced a licensing regime for most Internet and telecommunications services. A new law on e-communications entered the parliament in 2006 as part of an effort to harmonize national legislation with European standards. The drafted law envisions broader rights for the final user and wider access to public networks, and provides for more-efficient market liberalization. The draft law also seeks to establish a new independent body to regulate telecommunications.

The Supreme Security Council (SSC), which oversees implementation of the president’s decrees related to national security, monitors ministries’ and state agencies’ various activities to ensure national security. SSC Ministry of Information Development carries out government policies related to information and communications and encourages collaboration between state and private organizations. The National Security and Information Service is empowered with broad authority to monitor and gather information on Internet usage.

ONI testing results

ONI carried out testing on three of the tier one ISPs: Globnet, Moldtelecom, and Telemedia. The tests revealed no evidence of filtering for any of the categories of content tested.

ONI research determined that some ISPs perform a differentiated multilevel filtering as a means of protection against various network attacks and spam or viruses. There was, however, no evidence of ISP-level filtering based upon sensitive political or social content. More commonly this type of filtering occurs at the level of business workplaces and cybercafés. ONI researchers performed a survey among more than 600 businesses to determine the level of filtering at work enterprises.11 The results indicate that filtering or surveillance of Internet exists in all types of businesses. Some practice "sanitized" access to Internet, where employees can access only a limited number of sites directly related to the work they perform. Other enterprises allow employees to access the Internet, but filter out sexual, “harmful,” and “entertainment” content.

In cybercafés access is limited more by surveillance than by direct filtering. Specific content is prohibited and, if accessed, the user is fined. Approximately 56 percent of cybercafés’ administrators surveyed by ONI admitted to filtering and surveillance activities. Other administrators stated that they noted that some Web sites are inaccessible, but would not confirm that they used any specific filtering system in the cybercafé itself.

Conclusion

Despite increasingly authoritarian tendencies, the Internet in Moldova remains largely unaffected by filtering, at least at the backbone level. At “edge” locations, such as cybercafés and some enterprises, ONI research revealed filtering that restricted access to certain content and services. Given that over half (55 percent) of all Moldovans access the Internet through their workplace or cybercafés, this form of filtering has a significant impact on the way in which Moldovans “experience” the Internet. ONI research also suggests that Moldovan security forces have developed mechanisms to monitor Internet content. Given a relatively underdeveloped legislative base protecting citizen’s rights and privacy, there are few checks and balances in place to prevent authorities from taking a more aggressive stance on policing Internet content.

NOTES

1. See the U.N. Global E-Government Readiness Report 2005, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan021888.pdf (last accessed April 30, 2007).
2. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
3. A study conducted by the Centre of Sociological Politological and Psychological Investigation and Analysis CIVIS, 2005.
4. Centre of Sociological Politological and Psychological Investigation and Analysis CIVIS, 2005.
5. See Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., Moldova: Telecoms Market Overview & Statistics, April 2, 2006.
6. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
7. See Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., Moldova: Telecoms Market Overview & Statistics, April 2, 2006, p.
6.
8. See www.super.md.
9. See Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., Moldova: Telecoms Market Overview & Statistics, April 2, 2006.
10. Article 8 of the Law on Licensing Certain Types of Activities, http://www.anrti.md/en/acte/Leg_licente.htm#cap8 (last accessed April 30, 2007). The Law on Telecommunications and the Regulation of Licensing of Telecommunications and Informatics No. 5 of 2002 are also relevant to the licensing regime of IT services.
11. Less than half of the interviewed enterprises are connected to the Internet, and the majority of these have no more than two computers with access to the Net. The number of employees allowed to use computers with access is limited to nine in companies of medium size (from 50 to 249 employees). The use of Internet is three times more intensive in urban enterprises than rural ones. Dialup access is used by 52.6 percent of businesses, with 39.7 percent using broadband technologies.

Kyrgyzstan

evan — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:37:56 -0400

Background

In 2005 Kurmanbek Bakiev won the presidential elections after the violent downfall of the fourteen-year authoritarian regime of the former president, Askar Akayev. The new head of state vowed to distribute more powers to the parliament, encourage free speech, fight corruption, and tackle poverty. However, this shift in power did not result in significant economic improvements in Kyrgyzstan, as two-thirds of the population remain below the poverty line. International observers predict that new civil conflicts may erupt if the country does not adopt urgent economic measures.1 The Internet is one of the few free outlets for expressing public criticism in Kyrgyzstan, and has been used as an instrument to assemble people for protest against the government. Kyrgyzstan’s U.N. global ranking for e-government (0.4417) has deteriorated; however, it remains in second place on the central Asian list, after Kazakhstan.2

Internet in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in Central Asia (5 percent for 2005).3 Some local studies assert that the number of Internet users is two times higher than reported in the official data.4 However, personal computers (PCs) remain unaffordable for the vast majority: only 2 percent of the Kyrgyz own a PC.5

Cybercafés are the main Internet access point in the country (for approximately 51 percent of all users). Other important venues for public access are workplaces (nearly 25 percent) and educational institutions (24 percent). There are approximately 150 public Internet access centers in the country, including cybercafés and free access centers sponsored by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Development of the Internet infrastructure targets only the urban markets, the two largest cities, Bishkek and Osh. There are slightly more female than male users, and 60 percent of all users are aged between fifteen and twenty-five, with an additional 20 percent aged twenty-six to thirty-five. Russian sites remain the most visited among Kyrgyz Internet users (90 percent), compared with only 8 percent in Kyrgyz and 2 percent in English.

The privatization of both telecommunications and services, driven by the foreign investment and financial assistance, has resulted in an increasingly competitive Internet sector. This has caused access fees to decrease to USD0.30/hour, which in turn has made the Internet affordable for the average Kyrgyz. In 2005 the number of ISPs increased to thirty-eight, although only seven of these have an external Internet connection. Two of the seven ISPs—KygyzTelecom (KT) and SaimaTelecom—own the infrastructure they use. The others rent lines and cables from the state-controlled top-tier KygyzTelecom. The state has a major stake (50 percent) in Elcat, another top-tier ISP. The majority of ISPs connect by satellite to the Russian portion of the Internet. In addition to its major Russian connection, KygyzTelecom has built external connection ports to China and Kazakhstan.

The Internet Traffic Exchange Point (IXP),6 shared by the ISPs with external Internet connection, runs the local traffic. The international Internet bandwidth in the country is 76 Mb/s,7 and the most popular means for Internet access is through dialup connection. A private company, AsiaInfo, controls the country’s top-level domain “.kg”.8 There are around 1,500 top-level domain names registered in the Kyrgyz Internet zone.

Legal and regulatory frameworks

Internet and ISP activities are not directly regulated by sector-specific laws in the communications sphere. Compared with its neighbor Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan does not compel local Internet providers to work with the state-owned provider. Therefore ISPs independently establish international connections. However, the state telecom continues to enjoy exclusive rights to national long-distance and international services, thus thwarting mobile operators and ISPs from entering the market. A licensing regime exists for providing Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. To obtain a license, companies are required to contribute twenty million som (approximately USD517,000) to develop IT infrastructure. Once an applicant obtains the license, it may resell VoIP services to another company.

In 2002 the state declared ICT development to be a priority by way of the National Strategy on Information and Communication Technologies for Development of the Kyrgyz Republic.9 Eager to harness Internet capabilities to stimulate economic growth, the government has encouraged e-government, e-education, and the e-economy.10 For example, under a joint program between the government and international organizations, 95 percent of central government bodies, and 50 percent of local ones, have Internet access and provide online information about their services.11 However, the cyber presence of political opposition is limited. ONI detected only three Kyrgyz Web sites belonging to political parties.12

The main institution responsible for the sector is the national ICT Council under the President. The presidential administration has made efforts to introduce restrictive measures to control Internet content. In the spring of 2005 members of the government proposed amendments to the law on mass media that would have led to blocking all “.ru” domain sites containing offensive information on Kyrgyzstan. In turn, this would have limited Kyrgyz access to sources solely on the “.kg” domain, which is regulated by local authorities. Although this proposal was rejected, it revealed a shift in official attitudes toward Internet development in the country.

The National Communications Agency (NCA) is directly responsible to the presidential apparatus. It has taken over most of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication in the telecommunication sector. The NCA regulates and supervises postal and electronic communication companies, issues licenses, and monitors the Internet.13

Kyrgyz security laws do not explicitly apply to Internet activities. However, the National Security Law of 2003 provides for the creation of specialized communication and information security bodies within the structures of the National Security Service. The Security Council will be inter alia responsible for examining internal and external policy questions in the field of information security. In 2005, a government resolution on the Program for Information Security was adopted, but it lacked precise definitions for what constitutes commercial secrets, state secrets, and private information. This absence of clear terminology may lead to variable interpretations, which could create space for potential abuse. Furthermore, the program does not exhaustively list what types of information can be limited, which again can allow for the broadening of the scope of restricted information.

There is no legislation allowing the national security services to organize surveillance over the Internet. In fact, KygyzTelecom itself launched a technical investigation to prevent “gray traffic.” Possible surveillance exercised by state officials may take place at the ISP level. In July 2006, the State Agency for Intellectual Property proposed to create an Inter-Departmental Commission on State Regulation of the Kyrgyz Segment of Internet. This institution would coordinate the activity of the executive power bodies and organizations participating in the Kyrgyz segment of Internet. This institution follows an existing Russian model. The implementation of such restrictive measures would deter further development of Internet in Kyrgyzstan.

ONI testing results

ONI conducted testing from various access points on all seven first tier ISPs: Aknet, AsiaInfo, Elcat, KyrgyzTelecom, SaimaTelecom, Totel, and Transfer. The testing did not detect activity that is indicative of any deliberate or even selective pattern of filtering. Some U.S. military sites were inaccessible, but these are likely the result of “supply side” blocking by U.S. authorities or poor domain name propagation. Kyrgyzstan does not block the sites of religious or extremist groups. Past work by ONI leads us to suspect that there may be “just-in-time” or event-based tampering applied during politically sensitive periods. This was the case during the 2005 parliamentary elections, when ONI documented the extensive us of “denial of service” attacks against opposition and media Web sites and Kyrgyz ISPs.14 Blocking of voice traffic is carried out in order to limit access to non-Kyrgyz providers offering IP-telephony service, to thereby compel the use of local providers. Voice traffic is filtered in all the standard ports on all popular non-Kyrgyz providers of IP-telephony. Allegedly, Cisco (Pix) and Huawei (EuDemon) products are used for blocking voice content. Filtering also exists at the enterprise level (NGOs, corporate clients) in order to block access of content deemed irrelevant and to economize Internet traffic.

Conclusion

Kyrgyzstan does not officially engage in filtering of Internet content. Although the government generally encourages Internet development, a shift toward greater restriction may be emerging. The regime appears to be struggling to find a balance between maintaining control over the ICT sector and allowing the necessary freedom for spurring economic growth. Potential limits in Internet freedom are posed by generally poor access, the possibility of “in-stream filtering” resulting from dependence on Russian and Chinese connections, and the possibility of sporadic targeted filtering triggered by state instability. However, Kyrgyzstan is an aid-dependent country, and is therefore unlikely to pursue open filtering of Internet content.

NOTES

1. International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research, http://www.iicas.org/libr_en/kg/libr_06_10_05kg.htm.
2. See E-Governance, UN report 2005 at http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan021888.pdf.
3. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
4. According to the Expert Consulting Agency, the number of Internet users reached 550,000 in 2005, suggesting Internet penetration of more than 10 percent.
5. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
6. The IXP is developed by the Soros Foundation and the Association of Telecommunication Operators. See Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., Telecoms Markets and Statistics, 2006.
7. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
8. For more information see http://www.domain.kg/.
9. http://www.ict.gov.kg/index.php?name=EZCMS&menu=2501&page_id=71.
10. See National ICT Action Plan, http://www.ict.gov.kg/index.php?name=EZCMS&menu=37&page_id=96.
11. The government gate portal is www.govservices.kg.
12. These are: the Moia Strana Party, the Democratic Party Turan, and the Ar-Namys Party, whose previous leader is today’s Prime Minister F. Koulov.
13. Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., Telecoms Markets and Statistics, 2006.
14. See Open Net Initiative, Special Report: Kyrgyzstan Election Monitoring in Kyrgyzstan (February 2005), http://www.opennetinitiative.net/special/kg/.

Kazakhstan

evan — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:53:36 -0400

Background

Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia, covering a territory equivalent to the whole of Western Europe. An oil-rich country, Kazakhstan has recovered from the economic crises of the 1990s, and President Nursultan Nazarbayev is determined to turn Kazakhstan into an IT powerhouse in the region. An ambitious e-government project has been launched and the development of IT infrastructure is encouraged.

Politically Kazakhstan has become increasingly authoritarian. President Nazarbayev been the head of state since national independence in 1991, and he is widely alleged to have had manipulated results of elections and suppressed opposition to remain in power.1 Although press freedom in enshrined in the constitution,2 the government controls most mass media outlets and exerts influence over most printing and distribution establishments. Anecdotal evidence points to online media and bloggers practicing self-censorship for fear of prosecution by the state under highly restrictive defamation laws.

Internet in Kazakhstan

The Kazakh Internet community is growing rapidly. Between 2001 and 2005 the number of Internet users increased from 200,000 to 1 million. However, Internet penetration is moderate (6.8 percent for 2005),3 and computer penetration is around fifteen to seventeen computers per 100 residents.

Because of its size and internal regional disparities (especially between rural and urban dwellers), Internet access remains beyond the reach of most Kazakhs, except for those living in major cities. Internet access is most popular among young urban dwellers, with a surprisingly high percentage of female users (44.1 percent).

Russian is the most popular language used on the Internet (94.1 percent), followed by Kazakh (4.5 percent) and English (1.4 percent), which may account for the high percentage of Kazakh Web sites hosted in Russia (including those on the “.kz” domain). Six percent of “.kz” Web sites are hosted in Kazakhstan, with the remainder hosted in Russia and elsewhere. Kazakhs use a wide range of search engines, including Russian, U.S., and Kazakh (www.rambler.ru, www.yandex.ru, www.yahoo.com, www.google.kz, www.site.kz).

Recent liberalization of the telecommunications market increased competion among the five lisensed operators. These are Kazakhtelecom (the former state monopoly), Transtelecom, Kaztranscom, Arna [DUCAT], and Astel. Kazakstan also has five first-tier Internet service providers (ISPs) that possess independent channels to the Internet. These are Kaztelecom, Nursat, Astel, Telcom, and NIT. Some 100 second-tier providers lease access from the five first-tier ISPs.4

Kazakhtelecom is the operator of the national data transfer network, which connects the major cities of Kazakhstan with a total bandwidth of 665Mbit/s,5 and carrying capacity of separate local segments of up to 10 GB/s.6 Other leading first-tier ISPs (Nursat and Astel) also operate significant terrestrial and satellite based infrastructure.

Legal and regulatory frameworks

The Kazakh government exhibits an ambiguous and at times contradictory approach to the Internet. On one hand the “Development Strategy of Kazakhstan until 2030” demonstrates the government’s strong commitment to create an independent and effective system of telecommunications services, which will be competitive with analogous infrastructures in more-developed countries. On the other hand the government follows a strong and multilevel information security policy, ensuring surveillance of telecommunications and Internet traffic in the country.

The Agency for Informatizaton and Communication (AIC), a central executive body in the IT field, is authorized to implement state policy in telecommunications and information technology development industries, carry out control in these sectors, and issue licenses to every type of telecommunications services.7 The Security Council (SC), a body chaired by the president, is responsible for drafting decisions and providing assistance to the head of state on issues of defense and national security.8 The SC also prepares a list of Web sites every six months that should be blocked or forbidden from distribution. A 2005 SC decision legally forbade key national security bodies from connecting to the Internet (namely the Ministries of Emergency Situations, of Internal Affairs, of Defense, and the National Security Committee). However, despite this prohibition, ONI researchers witnessed state officials accessing forbidden Web sites through an anonymizer.

The security system in Kazakhstan is complex and multilayered. The Inter-Departmental Commission is charged with coordinating and developing the national information infrastructure. The National Security Committee (NSC) monitors presidential, government, and military communications. The Office of the Prime Minister is an authorized state body responsible for the protection of state secrets and maintenance of information security. A “state secret” is a broadly defined, encompassing various government policies as well as the president’s private life, health, and financial affairs. The NSC has issued a general license to the private Agency on Information Security to establish and organize facilities for cryptographic protection of information, as well as to formulate proposals on information security to state organizations, corporate clients, banks, and other large commercial companies.

The information communications technology (ICT) sector in Kazakhstan is overregulated, as evidenced by some 300 legislative acts that expressly or implicitly control the information and telecommunications environment. All ISPs require a license from the State Agency on Informatization and Communication.9 All telecommunications operators are legally obliged, as part of the licensing requirement, to connect their channels to a public network controlled by Kazakhtelecom. The so-called Billing Center of Telecommunication Traffic, established by the government in 1999, helps trace the activity of private companies and strengthen the monopolist position of Kazakhtelecom in the IT sphere. In practice, some telecommunications operators circumvent such regulations by using IP telephony to pass their interregional and international traffic.

The government has established systems to monitor and filter Internet traffic. Since the traffic of all first-tier ISPs goes through Kazakhtelecom’s channels, filtering can be achieved using centralized resources. The ISPs may unknowingly receive filtered content because the main operator could install filters on any information that it deems inappropriate. ONI suspects that state officials informally ask Kazakhtelecom to filter certain content. Russian companies and Kazakhtelecom have openly signed an agreement to provide filtering, censorship, and surveillance on the basis of Security Council resolutions.

State regulations oblige Internet providers to register and maintain electronic records of customer Internet activity. ISPs are required to install special software and hardware equipment in order to create and store records for a specified amount of time, including log-in times, types of the connection, transmitted and received traffic between parties of the connection, identification number of the session, duration of time spent online, IP address of the user, and speed of data receipt and transmission. The ISPs are also required to prohibit their customers from disseminating (via Internet) pornographic, extremist, or terrorist materials or any other information not in accordance with the country’s laws.10

The Kazakhstan Association of IT-Companies is the officially recognized administrator of the “.kz” domain. It is registered as a nongovernment organization but, in fact, it has 80 percent government ownership. The rules of registration and management of the “.kz” domain are issued by the State Agency on Informatization and Communication of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The constitution guarantees freedom of speech and prohibits censorship, but the government often resorts to various mechanisms to suppress “inappropriate” information or to shut down oppositional domain names. These rules mean that an applicant may be denied registration if the resource server resides outside of Kazakhstan. Use of Internet by political parties in Kazakhstan is limited, and few opposition or illegal parties have made the move to go online.

ONI testing results

ONI conducted testing on three main ISPs: Kazakhtelecom, Megaline, and Nursat. The evidence gathered from the testing is not sufficient to conclusively confirm the existence of a systematic filtering regime. However, a number of sites with sensitive political content, including locally sensitive topics and regional issues of concern to the Kazakh government, were inaccessible. Several of these inaccessible sites are hosted in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. ONI found some political sites were inaccessible for users of two ISPs (Kazakhtelecom and Megaline), while they remain accessible to Nursat users. Generally most of the inaccessible sites contained content related to political dissidents, the corrupt practices (of Kazakh government officials), human rights issues, and strongly expressed criticism of the president. Kazakh authorities also de-register Web sites that do not comply with its restrictive rules for registering domains within the “.kz” domain, and filters sites within this domain.11 In 2005 Kazakh authorities de-registered from the “.kz” domain a Web site put up by the producers of Borat, (a film by UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen that used Kazakhstan as a parody of backwardness and ignorance), claiming that the site violated the rules by hosting the site outside of Kazakhstan and providing false contact information.12

ONI suspects that filtering practices in Kazakhstan have changed and are now performed at the network backbone. Since all traffic should pass through the network controlled by Kazakhtelecom, it goes through filters put in place by the state-controlled ISP. At the same time, not all incoming and outgoing traffic passes through the network, which results in inconsistent patterns of blocking.

Most of the users are also on “edge” networks, such as cybercafés and corporate networks. Kazakhstan companies apply filtering mechanisms on a user level to prevent employees from accessing pornography, music, films, and dating Web sites. However, ONI testing found that Kazakhstan does not block any pornographic content or sites related to drug and alcohol use.

Conclusion

The Kazakh government has harnessed efforts to liberalize the IT sector, promote Internet, and encourage e-government in order to spur social development. However, it has also put in place a complex security system that is capable of state surveillance of Internet traffic, and suppression of undesirable Internet content. Given government pressure on opposition media, self-censorship may also be an issue among online media publishers and bloggers. The technical sophistication of the Kazakhstan Internet environment and government’s tendency toward stricter online controls warrant closer examination and monitoring.

Notes

1. See Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, “Missed opportunity in Kazakhstan: Fraud and Intimidation Spoil Election Promised to be “Free and Fair,” December 15, 2005, http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=ContentRecords.ViewDetail&Conte... (accessed May 1, 2007).
2. Article 20, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Constitution of KR and the Law on Media and Telecommunications (with last amendments of Jan. 2006) article 2, pararagraph 1.
3. Kazakhstan Association of IT-companies. For comparison, according to outside sources like the International Telecommunication Union, the Internet penetration in Kazakhstan for 2004 was 3 percent. See International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
4. Source: The Agency for Informatizaton and Communication of Kazakhstan.
5. For comparison, by the end of 2002 the total Internet bandwidth capacity for Kazakhstan was 46Mb/s; by the end of 2003 it was 189Mb/s.
6. This investment is part of the USD110 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Lucent Worldwide Services and Winncom Technologies are providing support for the project; see http://www.lucent.com/press/0306/060308.cob.html. In 2006 Kazakhtelecom began construction of a next-generation network (NGN) and plans to deploy fixed wireless access (FWA) platforms such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX.
7. Resolution no. 724 of the Kazakh government, dated July 22, 2003.
8. The SC was founded by the president of Kazakhstan, according to the provisions of the Constitution (Item 20 of Article 44).
9. Decree no. 998 of September 29, 2004, Concerning Question of Licensing in the Telecommunications Sphere” (original in Russian).
10. See the general user agreement between Nursat, a major ISP, and its customers at “Public Contract” (in Russian) at http://www.nursat.kz/?72.
11. http://www.blokada.org/print.php?sid=1985.
12. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15919.

Tajikistan

miriam — Wed, 09 May 2007 22:20:52 -0400

Background

The Internet in Tajikistan emerged as the country was ending a bloody civil war that followed the demise of Soviet rule in the early 1990s. The resulting fragmentation of power also meant that Internet services were developed largely without state interference and the Ministry of Communications played a weak role in the development of the sector. Internet as well as telecommunications services remained fragmented up until the end of the 1990s, with several companies failing to interconnect because of fierce (and at times violent) competition. During the period of instability, Internet service providers (ISPs) were aligned with feuding political and economic interests that spilt over to the competition among the ISPs themselves.

Internet use among Tajiks has been increasing, but remains relatively low (1.19 percent) despite government efforts to make information communications technology (ICT) a pillar of national development. Opposition media are not actively exploiting the Internet’s potential, but this is largely because of the low levels of penetration and the lack of a mature critical mass of Internet users. None of the registered opposition parties have domain names registered in the “.tj” Internet zone, and only one has its Web site available in Tajik.1 The incumbent president, who recently started his third seven-year mandate,2 exerts a degree of control over the independent media while suppressing the opposition with prosecutions based on broad and inconsistent interpretations of the relevant laws.3

Internet in Tajikistan

The rate of Internet penetration in Tajikistan is estimated between 0.075 percent4 and 1.19 percent.5 Empirical data show the number of active Internet users to be growing rapidly, with estimated total numbers that are higher than the Ministry of Communications’ estimate of 26,000.6 The discrepancy in figures probably arises from the hesitancy of most commercial ISPs to disclose accurate user statistics in order to avoid a per user charge. No official data exist on the number of personal computers in Tajikistan. Khoma,7 a local nongovernmental organization (NGO), estimates that 1 percent of households own personal computers and over 1 percent of those access Internet from home, mostly using dialup technology. Access via DSL and Wi-Fi technologies is affordable only to a handful of companies. Satellite connection is widely used and few ISPs use Mach 6 technology to connect mountain towns and district regions. The state-owned telecommunications company Tajiktelecom built a connection to the Trans Asia Europe (TAE) fiber-optic highway passing through Uzbekistan; however, ISPs prefer to use their own infrastructure. The Internet exchange point in Tajikistan, managed by the Association of Tajikistani ISPs, connects only four of the eleven ISPs.

Internet access remains largely unaffordable, as the average monthly salary in the country amounts to USD30–40, while the minimum salary drops to USD7. The price for one hour of Internet access in cybercafés is USD0.41; unlimited monthly traffic by dialup access costs USD29.41 and limited ADSL access costs USD25.8

Most Internet users are young and access the Internet through cybercafés close to schools and universities. In January 2006, Ministry of Communications estimates found some 400 cybercafés, most concentrated in large cities. The cybercafés, operating as second-tier ISPs, need to obtain licenses before starting their activity. Although over 70 percent of the population resides in rural areas, the Internet is mainly accessible in urban areas because of poor infrastructure and low affordability. A 2005 study by CIPI shows a great disparity between the percentage of men accessing Internet (77.5 percent) and that of women (22.5 percent).9

Tajik is the official national language. However, Russian is the most popular language for Internet use. The most-visited Web site in Tajikistan is mail.ru, and the most popular search engines are rambler.ru, google.com, yahoo.com, and yandex.ru.

Legal and regulatory frameworks

The Tajik top-level domain name was registered with Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) in 1997 but the domain name was later suspended as it was used mainly for registering pornography sites. In 2003 the domain name registration was delegated to the Information and Technical Centre of the President of Tajikistan Administration, a state entity that now supervises registrations within the “.tj” domain.10

The Ministry of Communications requires all ISPs to obtain licenses in order to operate. Currently eleven first-tier ISPs are actively providing Internet service in the country.11 The ISPs do not reveal information about their bandwidth because these data are a legally a protected commercial secret. This protection extends to the countries from which the connection originates. ONI data reveal that most ISPs have two points of access, one located in Russia and the other in Western Europe. The majority of ISPs are eligible to provide Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services under an IP-telephony license.12 Recent amendments require VoIP service providers to obtain a special license from the Ministry of Communications.

The main state entities regulating Internet in Tajikistan are the Security Council (SC), the ICT Council, and the Ministry of Communications. The president of the republic, however, remains the key authority, ratifying the main legal documents in the IT sector and directing ICT policy in the country. The SC controls the implementation of the State Strategy on Information and Communication Technologies for Development of the Republic of Tajikistan (E-Strategy). The SC monitors telecommunications, including Internet, for national security reasons. The ICT Council13 is responsible for implementing and coordinating work under the E-Strategy and advising the president. The Ministry of Communications is the main regulator in the telecommunications industry and is empowered to issue licenses for any related activities. The government adopted the Conception on the Information Security,14which serves as a platform for proclaiming official views, principles, and policy directions to preserve state information security.

The government restricts the distribution of information that contains state secrets and other privileged data that intend to “discredit dignity and honor of the state and the President,” or that contain “violence and cruelty, racial, national and religious hostility…, pornography… and any other information prohibited by law.”15 The provisions of this regulation are broad, allowing state agencies wide discretion in their application. The control over information security is assigned to the Main Department of State Secrets and the Ministry of Security.

Tajikistan does not have an official policy on Internet filtering. However, state authorities have been known to restrict access to some Web sites at politically sensitive times by communicating their “recommendations” to all top-level ISPs. Prior to the 2006 presidential elections, the Communications Regulation Agency issued a “Recommendation on Filtering” advising all ISPs that “for the purpose of information security” they should “engage in filtering and close access to those Internet sites that are directed to undermining the state policy on information sphere.”16 As a result, several oppositional news Web sites hosted in Russia or Tajikistan were inaccessible to Tajik users for several days.17 Although the officials offered unclear reasons for shutting down the Web sites, independent media foresee that the list of affected sites might grow in the future.18

ONI testing results

ONI tested in Tajikistan on three key ISPs: Babilon-T, Tajiktelecom, and Telecomm-Technology. The tests revealed no direct evidence of filtering for any of the selected categories. Nevertheless, ONI did document the sporadic filtering of political content during the 2006 presidential election.

Considered the most conservative Central Asian country, with a predominantly Muslim population, Tajikistan does not technically filter access to pornography sites. However, accessing such sites in public centers is illegal. Any such access may be penalized with a fine ranging from USD15 to 100 as provided in the Administrative Code and may be prosecuted under the Criminal Code. Based on ONI’s investigation, we concluded that currently most cybercafés do not employ any filtering applications to limit access to information. However, cybercafés routinely monitor users to ensure they do not visit forbidden sites.

Conclusion

Although the government has adopted an e-strategy aimed at developing information society and employing ICT potential for spurring economic growth, it does not seek to encourage independent online publishers, journalists, and bloggers. Media freedom is widely challenged and subject to de facto censorship, although the constitution provides that “state censorship and prosecution for criticism are forbidden.”19 Filtering is unlikely to be declared as an official policy since Tajikistan depends on international aid. The Tajik government, however, has in place policies and instruments to maintain firm control over the distribution of information, particularly before elections. The government is engaged in developing programs aimed at restricting citizens’ Internet access, following on from President Rahmonov’s message “Western values aren’t always applicable” to Eastern countries.20

NOTES

1. See SNGNews.ru, http://sngnews.ru/articles/5/67577.html (in Russian) (accessed May 3, 2007).
2. See Joanna Lillis, “Tajikistan: No surprises in presidential elections,” Eurasia Insight, November 6, 2006, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav110606a.shtml (accessed May 2, 2007); and Nigora Buhari-zade, “The opposition raises protests,” Deutsche Welle, August 29, 2006, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2150509,00.html (in Russian).
3. In 2005 the State Licensing Commission formally denied BBC a license, basing its argumentations on a complex interpretation of the Law on Licensing Certain Types of Activities. See Eurasia Insight, “Tajik government “tightening the screws” on independent media,” August 26, 2006, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082506a.shtml.
In addition, in 2005 the leader of the main opposition party, Iskandarov, was convicted on terrorism and corruption charges and sentenced to a twenty-three-year prison term.
4. See InternetWorldStat, www.internetworldstat.com/global_internet_stats.htm (accessed May 2, 2007).
5. Estimate by the Civil Initiative on Internet Policy (CIPI), Civil Initiative on IT Tajikistan.
6. Data of the Ministry of Communications of RT, AsiaPlus 30 (313) from January 24, 2006,
http://www.asiaplus.tj.
7. Internews Network, www.khoma.tj.
8. See State Statistics Committee, www.stat.tj ; Internet access tariffs of ISP Intercom, www.intercom.tj ; and ISP Babilon-T, www.tojikiston.com.
9. 2005 study conducted by the Civil Initiative on Internet Policy (CIPI), www.cipi.tj.
10. See the Tajikistani TLD hosting organization, Information and Technical Centre of the President of Tajikistan Administration, www.nic.tj.
11. A joint Tajik-American company, TACOM, stopped providing Internet service in the summer of 2006, but it is still a licensee.
12. See the Ministry of Communications, www.mincom.tj, and the Law on Electric Telecommunications adopted on May 3, 2002.
13. The ICT Council was established by presidential decree no. 1707 of February 27, 2006.
14. The Conception was ratified by presidential decree no. 1175 of November 7, 2003.
15. Points 2 and 3 of regulation no. 389 of the government from August 8, 2001, “On Creating a Republican Network of Data Transfer and Measures to Order Access to Global Information Networks” (unofficial translation from Russian).
16. Recommendation on Filtering sent to ISPs by the Communications Regulation Agency (unofficial translation), obtained by ONI researchers. December 2006.
17. See Deutsche Welle, “Access to opposition media websites is forbidden in Tajikistan,” October 8, 2006, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2198763,00.html ; Fergana News, “The websites officially blocked in Tajikistan were announced. Among them – Ferghana.Ru,” October 9, 2006, http://www.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3633&mode=snews ; and SNGnews.ru “In Tajikistan is closed the access to some websites,” October 7, 2006, http://sngnews.ru/articles/5/68007.html (accessed May 2, 2007).
18. See at SNGnews, “Internet Service Providers in Tajikistan are prepared for filtering of ‘unsafe’ Web sites,” http://sngnews.ru/articles/5/68051.html (accessed May 3, 2007).
19. Article 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, 1994.
20. Joanna Lillis, “Tajikistan: No surprises in presidential elections,” Eurasia Insight, November 6, 2006, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav110606a.shtml.