Tuesday
Jan022007
Wikipedia blocks Qatar
Issandr El Amrani
A Qatari server has been running spam attacks on the Wikipedia page for Qatar, so Wikipedia has blocked its IP address. And that means that most Qataris are now unable to edit the page for their own country:
Whilst the ban is due to spam-abuse coming from the IP address in question, the fact that this belongs to the country's sole high-speed internet provider has the unintended consequence of stopping Qatarese from editing the wiki. The ban has raised concerns about impartiality — the majority of Al Jazeera journalists operate out of Qatar, for example. This raises a number of issues about internet connectivity in small countries — what other internet bottlenecks like this exist?Update: Actually this story has apparently turned out to be false (see comments) -- sorry, and thanks for to those who let me know.
Reader Comments (4)
Dear Issandr,
the block is only on anonymous edits. Any Qatari can create a user account and edit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:82.148.97.69
--MSK
www.aqoul.com
Actually, the story is completely false. Wikipedia is not blocking Qatar at all.
Speaking of websites such as Wikipedia, Perusing through Google Earth, an excellent program that wastes lot of time if used at work, imagine my surprise when, looking over the Occupied territories and Syrian Jolan heights, I noticed several interesting things. Apart from the fact that somebody in Google is a hardcore closet Zionist that is. Firstly, Lake Tabarayah is firmly included within Israels border line (just about) and not included in what Google show as the Occupied Jolan heights. The Syrian border is at Lake Tabarayah, not behind it. Secondly, Jerusalem is written in its Hebrew pronunciation instead of its name al Quds and most surprisingly, is marked as the capital of Israel. I intend to follow this through with Google and have them mark that at least this information is disputable. If it is a careless error then no problem, but quite worrying if it is deliberate. If anybody knows the complaint e-mail address please let us know!
Pour celles ou ceux qui désirent s'expatrier ou visiter le Qatar.Voici des sites en français avec forum, news, photos,...
http://www.bonjourqatar.com/ (Portail de la communauté française au Qatar)
http://www.qataraufeminin.com (magazine feminine online)
http://www.qatar-immobilier.com (site sur l'immobilier au Qatar)