Egypt's Ex-Pres Mubarak Fined Millions For Cutting Off The Internet

from the that's-a-costly-line-break dept

Thu, Jun 2nd 2011 5:54am — Mike Masnick

Remember when Egypt wasn't quite sure how to deal with protests in the streets, and the government decided the best course of action was to cut off the internet (because nothing attracts the travel business like a capricious and arbitrary government, running around like crazy, just because citizens start speaking up). However, then President Hosni Mubarak probably should have thought twice before hitting the kill switch. Apparently he (along with two other officials) has been fined something close to $34 million for shutting down the internet:

The court ruled that Mubarak, Nazif and Adli were guilty of "causing damage to the national economy" and the fines would be paid to the country's treasury.

Who knew it was illegal to do that?

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Filed Under: egypt, fines, hosni mubarak

17 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jun 2011 @ 6:13am

I hope this sets an international precedent!
Who knew it was illegal to do that?

I don't know, but I hope it is illegal in the US as well. That would be awesome. We could finally get rid of almost everyone in the government.
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- Andrew (profile), 2 Jun 2011 @ 7:32am
  
  Re: I hope this sets an international precedent!
  Let's hope so. Then PROTECT IP and the recent ICE domain seizures could lead to some interesting court cases. Though I suspect the US courts may not be as forward looking as Egypt in this regard...
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- Christopher Gizzi (profile), 2 Jun 2011 @ 8:03am
  
  Re: I hope this sets an international precedent!
  Let's hope. From the 'kill switches' to the DNS hijacking the media distribution companies are proposing, let's hope there some we can sue when our Internet is cut off.
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- Gwiz (profile), 2 Jun 2011 @ 8:39am
  
  Re: I hope this sets an international precedent!
  I don't know, but I hope it is illegal in the US as well.
  
  Huh. I seriously doubt it.
  
  The major Wall St. players (Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, AIG, etc) in the subprime loan debacle which helped cause the largest economic depression in a long time haven't been punished at all, I believe.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jun 2011 @ 6:22am

As a good citizen, he will obviously comply. We would expect nothing else from this justice-and-freedom-loving man.
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ASTROBOI, 2 Jun 2011 @ 6:48am

The only way he could pay his fine would be to dip into the money he stole from the country when he was president. So they just get their own cash back. Why not just glom all the money he took? Whats the difference? The new rulers will be no different than the old ones.
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herbert, 2 Jun 2011 @ 6:49am

shame it isn't happening everywhere else. maybe that would make the governments and industries that want to control the internet completely, think twice!
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lfroen (profile), 2 Jun 2011 @ 6:54am

Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
Now, when regime in Egypt had changed, they will accuse Mubarak on anything they can. It doesn't matter.
The man has lost power, and will be robbed and hanged (eventually). This is kind of stuff that happens to retired rulers.
Turning off internet for few days is _illegal_? But throwing out (somewhat) democratically elected president is OK, I guess.
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Jun 2011 @ 7:02am
  
  Re: Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
  Agreed. They will likely send him the cleaning bill of soiled carpets at the Presidential palace as well. At this point they are just piling crap on.
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 2 Jun 2011 @ 7:43am
  
  Re: Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
  "But throwing out (somewhat) democratically elected president is OK, I guess."
  
  Question: My understanding was that Mubarak was the only one on the Presidential election ballots. How exactly does that make him a democratically elected President?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 2 Jun 2011 @ 8:36am
    
    Re: Re: Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
    You must be unfamiliar with Soviet style elections where two people on the ballot would be considered undemocratic.
    
    You really have to feel sorry about democracies that are so unsophisticated that they can not arrange decent gerrymandering rules like the US does.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 2 Jun 2011 @ 8:45am
    
    Re: Re: Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
    It's not much different in the US. There are two people that stand up and do all of the same things. ARE YOU TELLING ME WE'RE NOT IN A DEMOCRACY? HOW DARE YOU NOT LOVE 'MERICA!
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- Bengie, 2 Jun 2011 @ 8:36am
  
  Re: Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
  Democratically elected.. HA
  
  Mubarak was the ONLY valid candidate for years. There were no other choices. In 2005, there was finally some choices, but guess what, nearly all of the news outlets and the electoral institutions are under presidential control.
  
  You may also want to note that Egypt has been in a "State of Emergency" for the past 44 years. This means the constitution can be completely ignored and censorship is allowed. Also, the president can put anyone in prison without trial or even reason.
  
  Who do you think the electoral institutions are going to vote for?
  
  "Democratic"...
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  - lfroen (profile), 2 Jun 2011 @ 10:10am
    
    Re: Re: Mubarak is gonna be hanged, not _fined_
    Well, as you said yourself: in 2005 there were some choices. And "state of emergency" is twin brother of "Patriot Act".
    
    As someone earlier pointed out, in US you have two(!) candidates, saying and doing same things. Did war in Iraq already ended? What do you mean by "No"?. Ah, I see.
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cj, 2 Jun 2011 @ 11:56am

Lets see how long it takes to collect! I hope they are real young.
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mrbill, 2 Jun 2011 @ 2:03pm

Wait till the Muslim Brotherhood take rule
None of this will amount to a hill of beans once the Muslim Brotherhood takes over now that the strong man is gone. They just stated they will be taking over and instituting Sharia Islamic law..so look for beheadings, stoning, honor killings and other wonderful Leftist supported things.
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mrbill, 2 Jun 2011 @ 2:04pm

Wait till the Muslim Brotherhood take rule
None of this will amount to a hill of beans once the Muslim Brotherhood takes over now that the strong man is gone. They just stated they will be taking over and instituting Sharia Islamic law..so look for beheadings, stoning, honor killings and other wonderful Leftist supported things.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]