ICE

[John Dolva]

Havana. December 2, 2010

As they did with Cuban

websites, the United States closes

70 websites without warning

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/international-i/2diciembre-As%20they.html

THE U.S. authorities has closed more than 70 internet sites as a result of alleged illegal activity or selling counterfeit products, in one of the largest operations of its kind to date.

According to The Wall Street Journal, up until recently on these internet sites, it was possible to buy anything from fashion accessories to sports equipment. Now displayed is a message announcing that they have been closed down by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office (ICE).

This department has not released an official statement about the operation, which is still underway. One of the first on line sites carrying the news, TorrentFreak, reported that Torrent Finder, a popular music search site, was among the websites closed. "They have seized my domain without any warning or legal notification," complained Torrent-Finder’s owner on the TorrentFreak site, without identifying himself.

Other sites related to music sales which have been closed down are RapGodFathers, OnSmash.com and DaJaz1.com. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group based in San Francisco, which works for digital rights, is opposed to this kind of intervention, arguing that the collateral damage from applying this as a norm would be "enormous."

The group added that if this kind of measure were to be applied indiscriminately, YouTube would not exist. "There are laws and established procedures in place to take down sites which supposedly violate the law," said the group in a message on its web page.

"This law will allow the attorney general to censor sites, even when no court has found that they have infringed author’s rights or any other law."

In March of 2007, the U.S. Government, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department, ordered the closure of 80 web sites linked to Cuba, which belong to foreign travel agents whose owner lives in Spain and has businesses in the United Kingdom.

According to The New York Times, without previous notice, the site provider eNOM blocked 80 domain names belonging to this travel agent, including some sites dedicated to purely cultural exchanges. The sites closed included were literary ones such as:

http://www.cuba-hemingway.com. Others like http://www.cuba-havanacity.com, covered Cuban historical and cultural themes. And others, like http://www.ciaocuba.com and http://www.bonjourcuba.com were promoting tourism to the island.

The OFAC has released a blacklist with more than 3,000 sites linked to Cuba which have been blocked by order of the United States Government.

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[Len Colby]

The closing of the 70 sites without warning might well be a legitimate issue, it seems to violate due process. The "Cuban" site contrary to what was written all had the same content and furthered the commercial interests of the travel agent.

It is quite ironic though that an organ of government which does not allow it citizens freedom of expression or access to the internet would be bringing this up. What is especially ironic it that ordinary Cuban citizens couldn't access the closed sites when they were running and can't access their successors (which are almost identical) and not even the Granma website.

http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_gb_md_1.pdf

Cuba is one of the 5 - 7 most censored countries in the world:

http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/cl_en_2008.pdf

http://www.cpj.org/censored/censored_06.html

http://www.sipiapa.org/pulications/informe_cuba2006o.cfm

They don't even allow people to have cellphones

http://reason.com/archives/2008/02/22/still-stuck-on-castro

That is not to say that the revolution did not bring benefits to the vast majority of the population but the time for the Castro brothers to allow their citizens basic rights has long since past

[John Dolva]

What basic rights are you referring to?

Which mouthpiece do you use to support such claims?

[Len Colby]

What basic rights are you referring to?

Which mouthpiece do you use to support such claims?

Basic democratic rights, being able to:

• choose your leaders
  
• criticize government officials
  
• have your say
  
• leave the country
  
• belong to groups/associations of your choice
  
• live where you what
  
• pursue the profession of your choice
  
• access the internet
  
• have a phone/cellphone
  

My 'mouthpieces' are

• Amnesty International
  
• the United Nations Human Rights Council/Commission
  
• Reporters Without Borders
  
• Human Rights Watch
  
• the European Union
  
• the Inter American Press Association
  
• the Organization of American States
  
• The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
  
• The Committee to Protect Journalists
  

All CIA fronts of course

[John Dolva]

What basic rights are you referring to?

Which mouthpiece do you use to support such claims?

Basic democratic rights, being able to:

• choose your leaders
• criticize government officials
• have your say
• leave the country
• belong to groups/associations of your choice
• live where you what
• pursue the profession of your choice
• access the internet
• have a phone/cellphone

My 'mouthpieces' are

• Amnesty International
• the United Nations Human Rights Council/Commission
• Reporters Without Borders
• Human Rights Watch
• the European Union
• the Inter American Press Association
• the Organization of American States
• The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
• The Committee to Protect Journalists

All CIA fronts of course

Ok, some f those could be grouped together, let's say the first three to start with? (I'm surprised you don't consider free universal health care and education as basic rights) How do you support those claims?

[Len Colby]

Ok, some f those could be grouped together, let's say the first three to start with?

2 and 3 could be considered the same but being able to choose and criticize office holders is not the same thing.

(I'm surprised you don't consider free universal health care and education as basic rights)

I do which is why I said “That is not to say that the revolution did not bring benefits to the vast majority of the population” in post #2

How do you support those claims?

None of what I said in my previous post is really under dispute, which parts of it do you doubt? Cubans can’t leave the country legally and can’t choose their leaders. Some of the groups I cited are linked to in my earlier posts. Links supporting most of my claims can be found in the Wiki pages about human rights and censorship in Cuba.

[John Dolva]

How do Cubans choose their leaders?

[Len Colby]

How do Cubans choose their leaders?

They can't, that's my point.

Edited December 16, 2010 by Len Colby

[John Dolva]

OK, I'm glad we have arrived early at a point at which further dicsussion on this matter is of no value.

People can familar themselves with the matters at their leisure.

Thank you, Len.