Re: Information and Communication Technologies Advisory Council and internet-related issues

From: S Moonesamy <sm+mu_at_elandsys.com>
Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2015 07:52:56 -0700

Dear Avinash,
At 00:48 01-07-2015, Avinash Meetoo wrote:
>The matter of Internet filtering was raised by some members, added
>to our agenda and, after discussion during a meeting, we agreed that
>anyone who requires additional details can contact the ICTA directly
>(because they are the ones who did the implementation).

I am representing the Mauritius Internet Users on the National
Internet Filtering System issue. I sent an to Dr K. Oolun about the
issue on 14 May (
http://lists.elandnews.com/archive/mauritius/internet-users/2015/05/1610.html
). I also sent an email to the Information and Communication
Technologies Authority on 19 May (
http://lists.elandnews.com/archive/mauritius/internet-users/2015/05/1691.html
). There wasn't any reply to those two emails. It seems that nobody
in Mauritius is interested in providing any details about any issue
which affects internet users in Mauritius.

>Now, for any other matter related to ICT, I would invite you to send
>a formal correspondence to the Secretary of the ICT Advisory
>Council. The latter will then share this correspondence with all
>members of the Council and if any member of the Council (including
>myself) wants to add it to our agenda for our next meeting then that's fine...

I assume that the above means that:

   (i) the Mauritius Internet Users would have to send a letter by
post to the
         Secretary of the ICT Advisory Council; and

   (ii) the matter will then be discussed during a secret meeting of the
         Advisory Council if any member of the Advisory Council agrees to
         that; and

   (iii) the Mauritius Internet Users will not receive any
information about the
         outcome as it is a secret.

On behalf of the Mauritius Internet Users I unfortunately have to
decline doing the above as the Mauritius Internet Users is not
interested in perpetuating the culture of secrecy. I am far from
impressed with this new ICT Advisory Council as it looks the same as
the old stuff.

I understand that Logan, Ish or you might be afraid of operating in a
transparent manner. I am not sure whether any of you are aware of
this report [1] written by Mr R. Unuth, Central Informatics Bureau,
in which it is stated that:

   "The audiovisual scene in Mauritius is monopolised by the
Mauritius Broadcasting
    Corporation (MBC) which operates both the national radio and
television. The MBC
    has till recently been regarded as a tool for government propagada but the
    situation is being remedied by the opening of new radio channels
which tend to
    operate independently and the willingness on the part of
government to deregulate
    this sector."

Nowadays, internet users in Mauritius do not have to wait for the
news on the national television as the broadcast media is no longer
restricted to the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. Communication
[2] is no longer restricted to telecommunication companies. Maybe,
in some distant future, the Republic will understand how the internet works.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy

1. http://repository.uneca.org/handle/10855/15165
2. http://www.elandsys.com/~sm/www-lemauricien-com-ads-gf2.png
Received on Wed Jul 01 2015 - 14:54:26 PST

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