Thai Government Official Admits That Internet Blacklists Don't Work

from the get-rid-of-the-blacklist dept

Mon, Nov 22nd 2010 2:42am — Mike Masnick

As the US prepares to launch its own internet blacklist, it should be noted that over in Thailand, a senior government minister, Thongchai Sangsiri, overseeing internet and computer forensic related issues is saying that Thailand's internet blacklist has been a major failure and should be scrapped.

"The blacklists grow with many, many websites to become a burden on ISPs. Blacklisting doesn't work."

He later notes that putting up such a blacklist is a political move: it looks good because citizens think their government is doing something. But the reality is that it just doesn't work and just creates more burdens.

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Filed Under: censorship, filters, thailand

20 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2010 @ 3:30am

Nice of them to admit to it.....
This news just in:
Water is WET!
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Darren (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 3:35am

I see Goody Proctor
Not only do blacklists make citizens feel like the government is doing something, it also creates yet another vehicle through which finger-pointing can ensue. I understand that - according to COICA - the two blacklists would belong to the courts and the attorney general, but that wouldn't stop scared, self-righteous do-gooders from sending tips on where sites they felt should be on the blacklists reside, a la those FACT ads from the UK a few years ago.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2010 @ 4:03am

For very big things not even white lists work.

For a decentralized network the only thing that works is a decentralized solution but of course this implies no control over what is being done LoL

The irony.
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abc gum, 22 Nov 2010 @ 4:29am

I think the US has already been COICA'd.
Has anyone else noticed an increase in DNS issues lately?
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TehZomB (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 4:45am

Yeah, but then we still have to try it ourselves, cause you know the US can do everything better and more efficiently than all the other countries. Then once it's messed up we'll just back away slowly, turn and run while the IT department has to fix the mistake.
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abc gum, 22 Nov 2010 @ 5:24am

Internet blacklisting in the US is probably following a path similar to the wiretap fiasco in that paperwork lags implementation. All guilty parties will be exonerated and contracts will be awarded to those who cooperated.
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out_of_the_blue, 22 Nov 2010 @ 5:59am

Thailand just not comprehensive and draconian enough.
@TehZomB: you're right up to a point, but not if enough resources are thrown at it. The US already has 850,000 quasi-gov't spooks doing "something" along these lines, and resources to pay for more, besides having physical control of the root servers and other fundamental machinery. Even more importantly, the US has Google and its web parasites that track you everywhere, so can measure traffic to most sites and measure which are "problems" to the regime. In sum, the US *does* have the comprehensive mechanisms in place, now are beginning to use them and turn draconian.

By the way, incidentally heard *how* draconian jolly old England was only 200 years ago: death sentence by hanging for stealing 40 shillings, or roughly two or three weeks pay for a lower class laborer. Around then, England had 273 offenses one could get hanged for -- and without long to wait, a matter of weeks at most. Nice to live in a period where the ruling class has been beaten back from their harsh tyranny, isn't it?
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 6:31am

Re: Nice of them to admit to it.....
Actually water is not wet.
Things that come in contact with water become wet.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2010 @ 6:41am

Re: Re: Nice of them to admit to it.....
LoL

I have one, in chemistry people use to dry liquids(a.k.a. remove water from or liquid reagent from another liquid).

ps: not a chemist, just saw this video of people trying to make their own oil essences and trying to "dry" the oil LoL
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Berenerd (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 6:49am

Re: Re: Nice of them to admit to it.....
You say tomato..I say Chineese chicken fighting loves beer...its all the same thing...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2010 @ 6:56am

Re: Re: Nice of them to admit to it.....
Actually water is not wet.
Things that come in contact with water become wet.
I bow to the master of superior pedantary :-)
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CommonSense (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 6:56am

Re: Thailand just not comprehensive and draconian enough.
"The US already has 850,000 quasi-gov't spooks doing "something" along these lines, and resources to pay for more"
???????

Have you not heard about the US debt and deficit problems?? How on earth could you possibly make the claim that the US has 'resources to pay for more' of anything as wasteful as this with a straight face??
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Hephaestus (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 6:58am

Re: Thailand just not comprehensive and draconian enough.
The difference between the US and the UK is there are more guns than people in the US. Making a police state very difficult to implement.
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Emilio, 22 Nov 2010 @ 7:20am

MICT Blacklist
The blacklist was introduced to "protect" the Thai king, by banning sites which "insulted" the monarchy. Any attempt to scrap the scheme will be seen as a failure of MICT and a humiliating comedown for Thailand's monarchists.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 7:32am

Re: Re: Re: Nice of them to admit to it.....
You're supposed to argue that water is in contact with itself.

Damn... you're not even trying :(
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2010 @ 8:00am

Duh! A simple networking class would have cleared that up before they made idiots of themselves.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2010 @ 8:12am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Nice of them to admit to it.....
You're supposed to argue that water is in contact with itself.
I would, except being pedantic water prefers to adhere to other surfaces e.g. glass, unlike for example mercury which is far more cohesive and forms a convex meniscus rather than a concave :-)
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nasch (profile), 22 Nov 2010 @ 8:57am

Re: Thailand just not comprehensive and draconian enough.
The US already has 850,000 quasi-gov't spooks doing "something" along these lines, and resources to pay for more, besides having physical control of the root servers and other fundamental machinery. Even more importantly, the US has Google and its web parasites that track you everywhere, so can measure traffic to most sites and measure which are "problems" to the regime.

I know we're tending toward facism, but it's a bit much to imply that the root DNS servers, Google, and the US government are all one organization with a unified agenda.
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Ed C., 22 Nov 2010 @ 10:19pm

Re: Re: Thailand just not comprehensive and draconian enough.
I think it's more that blue fears that with all of those resources here, the government could marshal them together, by force if need be, under a unified agenda. I though it's technically plausible, I don't see it happening without a really big push--like the scare that lead to the PATRIOT Act.
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naeem ahmad, 25 Jun 2011 @ 12:26pm

please help and advice
From: naeemahmad67@hotmail.com
To: pr@nesdb.go.th
Subject: HELP AND ADVICE
Date: Sun, 29 May 2011 00:52:41 +0600

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Because BANK OF AYUDHYA THAILAND, send me e-mails and mobile messages about the massive prize winning.
And now told me to deposit the stamp duty of 550 great britton pounds

You are requested to please seriously investigate about the said bank, why they are torture the people and play the human beings.

I think that your good ministry help us.

Thanks
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