Two more Internet sites chopped

BangkokPost: 28 May 2007

By Kultida Samabuddhi
A popular pair of websites supporting ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have been blocked in Thailand for having "provocative political messages" - www.hi-Thaksin.net and SaturdayVoice.com

The Council for National Security (CNS) has authorised the Information and Communications Technology Ministry, appointed the official censor last year, to ban political websites found to contain provocative messages.

The ban follows the websites' broadcasts of Mr Thaksin's latest interview with community radio stations, two weeks ago.

Saturdayvoice.com is run by the Saturday Voice Against Dictatorship group, which was founded shortly after the Sept 19 coup to voice opposition to the military's ouster of Mr Thaksin.

The operators of hi-thaksin.net have never revealed themselves. However, the website has become a main channel of communication between Mr Thaksin and his supporters.

On the website, supporters of Mr Thaksin can find video clips featuring short speeches by him and updates on his movements.

The website also runs a discussion board, which was always flooded with messages supportive of Mr Thaksin and harsh criticism of the CNS and the Surayud Chulanont administration.

Sudchai Boonchai, leader of the Saturday Voice Against Dictatorship group, said the website had been inaccessible for a few days.

He believed it was banned because it contains a recording of Mr Thaksin's community radio interview.

In the interview, Mr Thaksin called for swift elections to restore democracy and confidence and voiced concern for underprivileged students affected by the scrapping of the digit lottery scheme.

Mr Sudchai urged the ministry to stop blocking the group's website.

"The closure of the website is more evidence that freedom of expression does not exist under the military dictatorship," he said.

He claimed that the ICT ministry had blocked the website several times, but only temporarily. However, this time it had been closed for days.

The website's fans were now viewing it through proxy websites, he said.

Mr Thaksin's legal adviser, Noppadon Pattama, criticised the ICT ministry for "overreacting".

"Mr Thaksin's words could not pose any harm to the country. I don't understand why they have to be nervous about his movements and had the websites shut down," he said.

He said the hi-thaksin.net website was a main channel for conversation among Mr Thaksin's supporters and its closure would obstruct their activities

Cyber Crime Bill needs correcting

BangkokPost EDITORIAL: 25 May 2007

The government's attempt to address the problem of computer-related crime through the Cyber Crime Bill is a legitimate and important undertaking. But the bill that was passed through the National Legislative Assembly on May 9 has some serious faults.

While there is little hope of stopping the bill from being brought into law under its current form, individual politicians and political parties hoping to represent their constituents in the next parliament have the duty to push for amendments and even removal of some very worrying sections of the bill.

As the laws in the bill predominantly affect freedom of expression, particular care must be taken to clearly define what is an offence and what is not. Many of the wrongs listed here are unduly vague and go much further than what can be reasonably considered as necessary to protect legitimate interests. It is beyond contest that freedom of expression applies to the Internet as it does to all other means of communication. But with this bill, the harshness of penalties sanctioned for often vaguely determined wrongdoings seriously threatens freedom of expression, not just of the media, but of everyone residing in Thailand.

Although many of the penalties listed are the maximum and allow for considerable latitude in their application, in some cases the bill stipulates minimum periods of imprisonment for crimes. These must be removed as they are disproportionate and unjustifiable. For example, Sections 9 and 10 stipulate penalties of up to five years' imprisonment and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht for damaging, destroying, changing or altering a third party's computer data; or interfering with, hindering or delaying or disrupting a third party's computer system. And while these laws may seem justifiable, it is unclear why it would need to stipulate specific criminal penalties for crimes that are already provided for under existing laws.

However, of more concern is Section 11(2) which stipulates a minimum jail term of three years if any act under Section 9 or 10 is likely to damage computer data or systems "related to the country's security, public security and economic security or public services", or is an act against data or systems "available for public use".

The interests listed are far too broad and open to interpretation, particularly given the harshness of a minimum jail sentence of three years. The term "related to" also allows for abuse of the laws and is too vague, leaving the laws open to exploitation and misuse. The minimum sentences stipulated must be dropped and the crimes stipulated in the act must be more specifically defined.

Not only does the bill threaten the freedoms of individuals and media organisations with disproportionate jail sentences for vaguely determined crimes, it also hands broad-ranging powers of surveillance and access to communications systems to "competent officials". Such laws violate privacy rights and are used as a stick to threaten individuals and media organisations into practising self-censorship.

The laws also do not allow for sufficient judicial oversight for the exercise of powers that intrude on the right to privacy and freedom of expression. Such power in the hands of any government without sufficient judicial scrutiny are unacceptable in a free and democratic society. And given the political instability of the country at present, these laws represent a very real danger to the future of democracy and freedom in Thailand.

The current Cyber Crime Bill should not be accepted by the public or politicians. The fact that it sailed through with a 119:1 vote in the military-appointed assembly is cause for considerable unease.

Such a wide-ranging bill that poses significant concerns deserves the scrutiny of an elected parliament. The current assembly does not have the mandate to introduce such laws and should be reminded of that fact.

Cyber clampdown ripped by foreign watchdog

BangkokPost: 25 May 2007


Human Rights Watch has joined local and international netizens in criticising the interim government's censorship of the Internet, saying the move has undermined free political debate and delayed the return to democracy.

By Achara Ashayagachat

The New York-based Human Rights Watch yesterday issued a statement critical of the Thai authorities who have been active in silencing cyber critics and dissidents, in stark contradiction of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's pledges to create an atmosphere conducive to democratisation and political reform.

"A major complaint about Thaksin [Shinawatra] was his muzzling of the media and willingness to limit free speech," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The military-backed government promised a quick return to democracy, but it's now attacking freedom of expression and political pluralism in ways that Thaksin never dared."

Censorship of the Internet, which currently is being carried out by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and the Royal Thai Police, in collaboration with the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and the Telecommunications Authority, has blocked many political websites and blogs.

Wrangling over the blocking of YouTube due to content on the site related to His Majesty the King has also raised global concerns about the future of freedom of expression and the Internet in Thailand.

"The military and government are clearly worried that Thaksin may return to power and are engaging in censorship to stop this," said Mr Adams.

"But instead of resorting to draconian restrictions on free speech, the Thai authorities need to realise that their promised return to democracy requires opening the political process."

The NGO also criticised the bill on computer-related offences, which was tabled last November and quickly passed earlier this month.

Human Rights Watch cited particular concern over broad powers given to ICT officials to intercept and seize computer data, and seek court warrants to block the dissemination of information on the Internet.

Lawyers, Internet and media professionals and bloggers fear that in a tense political environment, these provisions could easily be misused by the authorities against political opponents and critics of military rule.

Canada-based Article 19 and Bangkok-based Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (Fact) have also called for amendment of the bill for fear that the harsh penalties stipulated could be abused and the law might be interpreted by people with no computer experience or legal expertise.


=======================================
Earlier version of this story:

By (dpa)
New York-based Human Rights Watch says the military-backed government has undermined Thailand's free political debate with its unprecedented crackdown on Internet critics.

Since the Sept 19 military coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai authorities have launched a censorship campaign of the Internet that has blocked half a dozen websites deemed critical of the current government, said the human rights group in a statement out of New York.

"A major complaint about Thaksin was his muzzling of the media and willingness to limit free speech," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The military-backed government promised a quick return to democracy, but it's now attacking freedom of expression and political pluralism in ways that Thaksin never dared."

Censorship of the Internet is now being carried out by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) and the Royal Thai Police, in collaboration with the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and the Telecommunication Authority (TOT), which provide Thailand's international internet gateways.

Since the coup, the government has blocked at least five websites on charges of threatening national security, disrupting public order, or being obscene, including the September 19 Network (www.19sep.net and www.19sep.org), the pro-Thaksin PTV television (www.ptvthai.com), the online broadcast of Saturday Voice (www.saturdaylive.org and saturdayvoice.no-ip.info) and the online broadcast of FM 87.75 Taxi Community Radio (www.shinawatradio.com).

While these websites can still be accessed from abroad, local internet surfers in Thailand will get an "Access Denied" message, and the MICT's logo saying that access to such websites has been blocked due to "inappropriate content."

"The ministry has requested Google Thailand (www.google.co.th) and Google.com to block access to its cached web pages in Thailand by which blocked pages can be accessed, as well as to block by keyword search," added HRW.

The group did not mention Thailand's recent blockage of Google's YouTube.com website after it aired clips that ridiculed Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the country's revered monarch who turns 80 this year.

The site was blocked under the country's lese majeste law that makes any criticism of the royal family a crime.

It also did not mention the more recent blocking of the entire Blogspot.com site by some Internet providers acting on the MICT's "request".

Thailand, under the current government, has also passed a law to criminalise the generation, possession, storage, dissemination of and access to prohibited information on the Internet and a Bill on Computer-Related Offenses that empowers the MICT minister to intercept and seize computer data, and seek court warrants to block the dissemination of information on the Internet if such information is considered as a threat to national security.

The two laws, which have yet to be passed, include stiff penalties such as a maximum of five-years imprisonment and fines up to 100,000 baht ($2,700).

"Freedom of expression, including offering opinions on the Internet, is an essential basis of any functioning democracy," said Adams. "Blocking critical websites resembles the behaviour of China and Vietnam. Is this the company that Thailand's leaders want to keep?"

MySpace exposes sex predators

SAN FRANCISCO - MySpace is yielding to demands by US state justice officials that it expose sexual predators that may be prowling the youth-oriented social networking website.

The move ends a standoff between MySpace and top prosecutors from eight US states that had demanded the identities of convicted sex criminals who have posted their profiles on the News Corporation-owned website.

State attorneys general subpoenaed MySpace after the website refused to hand over the data on the grounds that disclosure of the private information was barred by US law.

"Our subpoena compels this information right away -- within hours not weeks, without delay -- because it is vital to protecting children," said Connecticut state attorney general Richard Blumenthal.

"MySpace has decided to do the right thing, but additional steps are necessary, such as age verification, to protect children from predators on social networking sites."

MySpace told AFP that since innovative "Sentinel SAFE" software began running" 24 hours a day" on the website May 2, 2007 it has ferreted out about 7,000 profiles posted by convicted sex criminals.

MySpace deleted the profiles but saved information about them for law enforcement officials, said MySpace chief security officer Hemanshu Nigam.

"We've always intended to provide law enforcement with the information," said Nigam, a former US prosecutor who handled sex crimes.

"The last week has been about the mechanism to provide the information in a way so that someone charged by law enforcement doesn't get off because of a technicality."

US law bans illegally obtained evidence from being used in court.

Nigam said that since MySpace received the letter from US attorneys general last week he has been collaborating with them to make certain they use proper legal channels to get the data.

"At the end of the day, it is all about implementing a process that lets the information be used in court," Nigam told AFP. "We work with law enforcement every day. We have a very well-oiled law enforcement compliant program."

North Carolina state attorney general Roy Cooper laments that the data from MySpace does not include sexual predators without convictions, using fake names, or not registered with police.

"We are pleased to see MySpace step up to the plate and provide us with the very important information," Cooper said. "But, we still must do more to protect our children from predators."

MySpace is lobbying for a federal law requiring convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses to make it easier to screen them from membership websites used by young people.

US law already requires people convicted of sex crimes to register their addresses with local police after they are released from custody.

Sex offenders may have violated their parole or probation by contacting or soliciting children on MySpace, Blumenthal said.

There are an approximately 600,000 registered sex offenders in the United States. Nearly 180 million profiles are posted on MySpace.

"What you are really seeing is a mirror of a physical community appearing online," Nigam said of MySpace.

"It is a reflection of society, which is why we have to implement all the safety features and education we can."

MySpace and Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. created Sentinel Safe, touted as the nation's "first proprietary software dedicated to identifying and removing sexual predators from online communities."

The justice chiefs of Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and New Hampshire had contacted MySpace after getting word that it had found thousands of convicted sex offenders with profile web pages.

Agence France-Presse/TheNation: 22 May 2007

Government demands YouTube reveal user identity

BangkokPost.com, Agencies: 12 May 2007

The latest development came on Friday, just as the kerfuffle over the Internet videos appeared to be dying down and headed for a mutual resolution after YouTube.com began removing insulting videos and the government said it would reopen the site to all Thai visitors.

The Information and Communication Technology Ministry re-escalated the battle against the anti-monarchy videos on Friday, saying Thai authorities would demand YouTube.com hand over the Internet addresses of those who uploaded the clips.

The number of clips insulting the monarch has mushroomed after news spread around the world that Thailand had banned the popular site.

As of Friday night at 9 p.m. Thailand time, several of the insulting clips had disappeared from the YouTube.com site. But many others remained. All of the videos were available up until Friday afternoon Thailand time.

Now, ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom says authorities wanted to charge those who posted the mocking video clips with lese majeste, the crime of offending a monarch, which is punishable by up to15 years imprisonment.

"The police will ask for information from the company to file criminal charges against them," he said on Friday.

Mr Sitthichai did not say what might happen if YouTube refuses to hand over the information. A decision by YouTube or its owners to give such information to the Thai government would earn Thailand and Mr Sitthichai a firestorm of criticism across the Internet, and by civil rights groups around the world.

Even if YouTube or Google were to roll over and give the government the IP addresses, it would take more work to track down the actual people involved.

As of now, no one knows where the uploaders of the insulting videos live. IP addresses can be traced to an Internet company, which then would have to be compelled to match the Internet Protocol address to a specific user. There is little chance that a foreign court would allow such an invasion of privacy, but a Thai Internet provider would probably turn over such information in a case of insulting the monarchy.

Mr Sitthichai issued the threat to demand IP addresses two days after Google, which owns YouTube.com, informed the ministry that it would remove controversial video clips from the website. In turn, the ministry cancelled plans to try to launch a cirminal suit against Google at the Bangkok Criminal Court on Friday.

Mr Sitthichai said the ministry would unblock the YouTube website "immediately" - when all the clips were gone.

But there is great uncertainty over whether the videos will be removed. The text of the letter to Mr Sitthichai from Google vice president Kent Walker has been released, and Mr Walker said at least two of the videos cited by a Thai complaint would stay as they did not break lese majeste laws.

"They appear to be political comments that are critical of both the government and the conduct of foreigners," the letter said.

"Because they are political in nature, and not intended insults of His Majesty, we do not see a basis for blocking these videos," said the letter.

As of Friday at 4:30 p.m. Thailand time, all or most of the offensive clips were still on the YouTube.com site, according to informants able to access the website. And the government's attempt to block the site also remained in place.

The site was blocked in Thailand since early April when a clip mocking the King was posted to the website.

Data provided on YouTube claimed that the five most-seen videos that are meant to be offensive to the monarchy have been seen 137,000 times - a tiny number by YouTube standards, where popular videos routinely have more than 10 million views.

The recent advertising spoof featuring Hillary Clinton has had more than 3.5 million views, and a 100-second video of a baby laughing has been viewed more than 14.9 million times.

Sittichai says Google blinks

By BangkokPost.com, Post Reporters

The ICT minister said on Thursday that the search giant has promised to remove all anti-monarchy videos from the YouTube.com website, and has decided not to press charges against the US company.

Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pokaiyaudom said he had received an official letter from a Google vice president saying that the US company did not want to promote hostile feelings over the video clips.

Google's vice president Kent Walker wrote to Mr Sitthichai on Wednesday, officially informing the government that Google will remove the controversial Internet video clips from YouTube.

The minister said that Google's vice president Kent Walker said in the letter that the company slogan is, "Don't do evil," and he did not want Google to become a source of hostile feeling regarding the King's video clips.

The Google executive that it would take time to find all the video clips uploaded to YouTube, but said the clips could be removed.

As of 6:30 on Thursday evening Thailand time, no videos appeared to have been taken down. Volunteers who have been tracking the videos for the Bangkok Post said all the main videos defaming His Majesty were still quickly found and ready for viewing on YouTube.com

The original video defaming the King was taken down within three days of its appearance last month, and the uploader was banned from the site. Since then, after Mr Sitthichai made a huge fuss and tried to ban Thais from accessing YouTube.com, around 20 anti-monarchy videos have been added. Many attacked Mr Sitthichai by name.

It was not immediately clear why volunteer monitors could find 11 clips within seconds, while YouTube technicians would need more time.

In any case, Mr Sitthichai also was cautious. He applauded the company's letter as a good sign.

He said he had called off plans by the ministry to file a criminal lawsuit agianst Google at the Bangkok Criminal Court on Friday. "We have called that off," he said.

But Mr Sitthichai said it would be up to the National Police Office to decide whether to drop a pending charge of lese majeste against Google, also scheduled to be given to the court on Friday.

Earlier the ICT planned to charge that YouTube, the video sharing website owned by Google, had hosted video clips offensive to the King. The minister described them as "very harsh to the feelings of Thai people and Thai culture," although he allowed as to how "foreigners would never understand."

Govt drops Google lawsuit

BangkokPost: 11 May 2007
KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA

The Information and Communications Ministry has dropped the criminal lawsuit it planned to file against Google today after the internet giant officially informed Thailand that it will remove controversial video clips from its YouTube website. ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said yesterday that he had received a letter from Google's vice-president Kent Walker to this effect.

The letter said the company did not want to encourage any wrongful act and promote hostile feelings as a result of the video clips depicting His Majesty the King, the minister said.

The letter added that it took time to find the huge number of clips sent to the video-sharing website, but they would be removed immediately after they were spotted, the minister said.

Mr Sitthichai said the company's letter was a good sign and as a result the ministry decided to withdraw the lawsuit it had planned to file with the Criminal Court today.

The police would have to make their own decision as to whether or not to proceed with a lese majeste charge against the US-based internet firm.

The minister had earlier said the video clips, which depict the King in unflattering ways, were an offence to the feelings of Thai people that foreigners would never understand.

Thailand gets new cyber crime law

BangkokPost 10 may 2007

By Supichaya Rakbua
The chief immediate effect of the new bill will be to outlaw any attempt to get around government censors to access any of the tens of thousands of sites censored for moral or political purposes, or "to damage the country".

The government pushed the new law by saying it hopes the bill will provide an effective legal tool to fight cyber crime, including theft of data and chatroom contacts that lead to rape.

The National Legislative Assembly approved the Cyber Crime Bill, which gives officials power to crack down effectively on hacking and internet-related crimes through harsher punishments.

The bill sailed through its third reading on Wednesday by a vote of 119 to 1. It requires royal endorsement before it can be formally enacted into law.

The bill regards as a crime the intention to withhold internet protocol (IP) addresses and violators are subject to severe punishment, according to the NLA special committee assigned to scrutinise the law.

The IP is a unique address used to identify computer users while communicating with others on the network. However, the committee said, "ill-intentioned users" often hide or falsify their computer addresses so that they can easily carry out illegal acts and get away with them.

The committee believed tighter controls on IP addresses would help tackle the root cause of cyber problems.

Penalties apply to all illegal acts using the internet, including those carried out abroad and deemed to "damage the country both directly and indirectly".

Singapore's prime minister takes in Yahoo

The Nation: 9 May 2007


SUNNYVALE, California - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Internet giant Yahoo on Monday for a personal look at the company's new technology and the economic opportunities they offer.

"We just want to learn about the prosperous growth of the US economy and the non-stop innovation in this great country," Lee said after getting private demonstrations of a trio of new Yahoo products.

"We are a small country so we want to learn what is happening in the outside world so that we can contribute."

Lee spent an hour in a closed-door meeting with Yahoo executives including co-founder Jerry Yang and chief executive Terry Semel.

"We are pretty delighted the prime minister came to talk to us," said Yahoo vice president of international emerging markets Keith Nelson, who took part in the meeting.

"He has a keen interest in technology and asked a number of very smart questions about Yahoo and the Internet space."

Lee and Yahoo executives discussed increasing the Internet giant's investment in Singapore and having it use the country as a "hub" for doing business throughout the region, according to Nelson.

"It was a light, casual, positive meeting," Nelson told AFP. "The prime minister was pretty supportive of building Internet technology hubs in Singapore."

Yahoo has had operations in Singapore for a decade and has been in discussions with its government "for a long time," according to Nelson.

The country is strategically located in a part of the world with the potential for a billion people in developing countries to become Internet users in the coming years, according to Yahoo.

"We are pretty much a natural fit for opportunities they want to pursue," Nelson said.

"Singapore has a stable government, strong intellectual property protections, and an infrastructure in place for Internet technology. All of that bodes well for using it as a hub."

Yahoo steered clear of commenting on Singapore's conservative political regime and its history of censoring films, newspapers and other material presented to the public along sexual, political, religious and racial lines.

Yahoo said its concerns about freedom of speech and keeping Internet use free of controls have been allayed by the "pro-active rapport" of the Singapore government.

"They certainly allow Yahoo to do what we need to do," Nelson said. "From a business standpoint it is a positive place to be."

Nelson would not comment on what developments might come from Lee's visit.

"They are very interested in investment in Singapore and we are interested," Nelson said. "I think the prime minister is personally driving a lot of the leadership in making Singapore a hub for these kinds of initiatives."

The Sunnyvale, California-based firm was the only Internet search engine visited by Lee, whose day included a tour of Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas's new Letterman Digital Arts Center campus in San Francisco.

Yahoo leaders gave Lee a Nokia mobile telephone with the Internet company's new oneSearch mobile online search software.

OneSearch was among the innovations Lee scrutinized during private demonstrations that also included a look at Yahoo's freshly launched free web-based email service in multiple languages.

Lee took particular interest in an online service Yahoo will roll out in the United States this summer to give teachers a free way to collaborate on and research educational presentations.

"The next time I make a speech I'll try using that," Lee quipped after Yahoo Teachers project leader Karon Weber showed how the tool made it easy to pull together authoritative sources, images and video.

"It's a great honor to demonstrate a new education tool like this for the prime minister of a country that is passionate about education," said Weber, noting that Singapore's literacy rate is nearly 95 per cent.

Lee is to visit computer-maker Hewlett Packard in the Northern California city of Palo Alto on Tuesday.

"I'm just enjoying my trip," he told AFP before taking a quick stroll of the Yahoo campus with company founders Yang and David Filo.

Agence France-Presse

New 'Thailies' website spurs strong reaction

BANGKOK POST and DPA: 9 May 2007

The government has increased its internet monitoring operations after the American lobby group USA for Innovation announced it had launched a new anti-Thai government website, www.Thailies.com. ''We will check the background of the website operator to see if it has any hidden agenda,'' said government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalap.

A press release issued by AsiaNet Infoquest yesterday said the website was being launched by USA for Innovation to ''draw attention to the deceit in Thailand's decision to steal American and European innovation''.

Thailies.com would provide information about what it called 10 recent lies by Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla for two weeks from May 7 to 18, according to the press release.

For example, Thailand had lied that the country was poor, so it could not afford Western medicines. "In fact, Thailand has one of the largest economies in the world. Its economy is growing faster than over 100 countries," it said.

The site was inaccessible last night.

Mr Yongyuth said the government would continue to closely monitor websites that posted strong criticism of the coup-appointed administration.

"What we can do now is check the backgrounds of these website operators and give correct information about the government's work to the audience, both inside and outside the country," Mr Yongyuth said. He believed the international community would better understand Bangkok's decision to issue compulsory licences and break drug patents after the public health minister talks with concerned parties in Washington on May 21 and 22.

Health activists said they were not surprised by USA for Innovation's announcement of a website opposed to Thailand's issuing of compulsory licences to import generic versions of Aids and heart drugs to treat poor patients.

"The organisation is supported by the pharmaceutical industry and it has to do everything to protect the benefits of its financial supporters," said Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, a representative of Doctors without Borders.

Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said the ministry would go ahead with a criminal lawsuit against Google Inc for running video clips deemed offensive to the monarchy on its popular website www.YouTube.com.

He would proceed with bringing the case in the Thai Criminal Court on Friday because the internet giant had failed to remove all video clips deemed insulting to His Majesty the King.

YouTube has reportedly asked the Thai government ''by email'' to send copies of the controversial clips as evidence, so it can remove them as requested.

Mr Sitthichai said the request showed that YouTube was ''playing a game''.

The ministry has blocked local access to YouTube since April 4.

Thailand to sue Google for insulting monarchy

Bangkok Post: 9 May 2007

(BangkokPost.com, Agencies) -
Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said he will press a criminal lawsuit against Google Inc at the Bangkok criminal court on Friday.

The suit will charge that YouTube.com, owned by Google, hosted video clips offensive to the monarchy. It was not clear where Mr Sitthichai will charge the American company with lese majeste, defamation or a cyberlaw violation.

Google has no office in Thailand, although it does business with many Thai-based websites and businesses. The California company established an office in Singapore late last week to try to expand its advertising profile in Southeast Asia. YouTube.com has no offices in Thailand.

A ministry statement on Tuesday said the suit will take the form of "a petition to the criminal court for emergency protection," according to official Thai News AGency.

Mr Sitthichai added that the ministry is studying the case to determine if the lawsuit can be filed in an international court.

YouTube has reportedly asked the Thai government "by e-mail" to send the controversial clips deemed insulting the King as evidence so it will remove them as requested by Thailand.

Sitthichai said the request showed that YouTube was "playing a game".

Sitthichai has argued that Google had bowed to China's requests to block certain topics deemed politically sensitive, such as all references to democracy, so he saw no reason why it could not act similarly over Thailand's sensitivities over its revered monarch.

The ministry has attempted to block all access to YouTube from Thailand since April 4, shortly after the first offensive clip appeared on the popular website which relies on contributions from the public at large.

That clip has long since been removed, and the surfer who uploaded it has been banned by YouTube. But because of the high profile publicity of Mr Sitthichai's censorship, at least a dozen other offensive video clips have been uploaded to YouTube.com.

Increasing government censorship of websites was cited as one of the reasons Thailand was downgraded earlier this month to 127th place out of 195 countries on the Freedom House ranking of press freedom.

Last year Thailand ranked 107th in the same listing.