Threats to the Open Net: April 29, 2011

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* In Burma, where last month Skype and other voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services services were banned, government officials have begun entering Internet cafes and "forcefully told owners to discontinue providing the service."

* Saudi newspaper al-Madina recently published [Arabic] a proposal for new legislation that, among other things, would require those who publish, transmit, receive, or store content online that contradicts Islamic values to be "publicly defamed." The proposal also calls for increased filtering of pornographic search results and for greater cooperation with other Arab and Islamic countries to fight "immoral" content online.

* New documents provided to The Guardian indicate that Gamma International UK Limited, British company that develops technical surveillance software for law enforcement, offered to sell this software to Egypt's State Security Investigations service. The discovery comes on the heels of the OpenNet Initiative's report on the use of Western technologies by Middle East censors, West Censoring East.