Monday, May 19, 2003		Feature

Despite Pak ban, Net voyeurism continues

INTERNET pornography has assumed alarming proportions across Pakistan, with the authorities struggling to control the scourge despite blocking access to over 1,800 Websites during the last three months.

This is because some Internet service providers (ISPs) are able to bypass official channels to gain access to international bandwidth - as the country’s telecom regular is not doing its job, The News reported.

State-owned Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL), which ordered the Websites to be blocked, says it is for the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to enforce the ban and accused the regulator of soft-pedalling.

The ministry of IT and Telecommunications had in February ordered PTCL to block salacious Websites from Internet browsers but this "appears to be an exercise in futility," the paper said.

It said "thousands of browsers across the country" could still access scores of sleazy Websites "readily being offered by some wavering" ISPs.

According to the newspaper, four "hi-fi" ISPs were "offering subscribers easy access to porn Websites" in spite of the PTCL campaign.

"All these ISPs have IPLC (International Private Link Circuit). It means they are not totally dependent on PTCL for bandwidth as they have an alternate international bandwidth available," The News quoted Zahir Muhammad Khan, PTCL’s member (Operations), as saying.

Between them, the four ISPs have 10,000 subscribers across the country. The number of people who get access to the Net through these ISPs is much greater as multiple users can browse from each connection.

Muhammad Kashif, who runs an Internet cafe in the city and subscribes to one of these ISPs, says his customers can easily access whichever they want.

"I read in the newspaper that sites are blocked. However, neither my customers nor I experienced any blockage," Kashif told The News. — IANS