sonal identification, take screenshots every five minutes, arrange computer monitors
for easy public viewing, allow the use of only state-run e-mail providers, and forbid
the use of circumvention tools. 80 A new service in 2009, Mtalk, offers an instant messaging application and private e-mail and is a rare joint venture between MPT and a
private company, Myanmar Technology Gateway. 81 Mtalk’s MPT-hosted server can
access GTalk with a single login, causing Internet users to worry about potential surveillance and the exposure of their contact lists. 82
The military government’s stringent filtering regime fosters fear and self-censorship.
For example, according to ONI sources the banning of certain political blogs in mid2007 sparked rumors that more would be banned if this trend continued, spurring
many local bloggers to self-monitor their postings in the hope that their blogs would
not be added to the blacklist. 83 Government e-mail services, theoretically boosted by
the blocking of many free Web-based e-mail services, are widely believed to be under
surveillance, with delays of up to several days between the sending and receipt of
e-mails, or with messages appearing with attachments deleted. 84 Blogger Nay Phone
Latt was allegedly convicted in part for storing a cartoon of General Than Shwe in his
e-mail account. 85 Internet slowdowns fuel speculation of enhanced online monitoring,
especially where users are required to click through pages equipped with network visibility applications (such as Bluecoat) that allow for monitoring of network activity and
behavior in order to access the Internet. 86
Surveillance methods are more effective when there are fewer targets, and a possible
strategy of the Burmese regime may be to keep more people offline. During the October
2007 Internet shutdown, surveillance, or at least perceived surveillance, was attributed
as a rationale for various government responses, including the government’s policy
of originally limiting Internet access to the curfew hours between 9:00 p.m. and
5:00 a.m. 87 Not only would the late hours significantly reduce the number of users
(as most Burmese users do not have access to the Internet at home), but it would
also make the task of identifying targeted users easier for a government without much
experience in tracking and investigating Internet usage.
In 2008, persistent and severe distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks hit the
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima News in July, the community forums
Mystery Zillion and Planet Myanmar in August, and The Irrawaddy, DVB, and the New
Era Journal in September. 88 In all these attacks, these Web sites, mostly overseas news
organizations, were effectively inaccessible after being flooded with data in short
amounts of time and thus becoming overloaded with information requests. 89
ONI Testing Results
In verifying the parameters of the Internet shutdown in September 2007, researchers
from the OpenNet Initiative were able to determine the outage periods using router
Burma
439
for easy public viewing, allow the use of only state-run e-mail providers, and forbid
the use of circumvention tools. 80 A new service in 2009, Mtalk, offers an instant messaging application and private e-mail and is a rare joint venture between MPT and a
private company, Myanmar Technology Gateway. 81 Mtalk’s MPT-hosted server can
access GTalk with a single login, causing Internet users to worry about potential surveillance and the exposure of their contact lists. 82
The military government’s stringent filtering regime fosters fear and self-censorship.
For example, according to ONI sources the banning of certain political blogs in mid2007 sparked rumors that more would be banned if this trend continued, spurring
many local bloggers to self-monitor their postings in the hope that their blogs would
not be added to the blacklist. 83 Government e-mail services, theoretically boosted by
the blocking of many free Web-based e-mail services, are widely believed to be under
surveillance, with delays of up to several days between the sending and receipt of
e-mails, or with messages appearing with attachments deleted. 84 Blogger Nay Phone
Latt was allegedly convicted in part for storing a cartoon of General Than Shwe in his
e-mail account. 85 Internet slowdowns fuel speculation of enhanced online monitoring,
especially where users are required to click through pages equipped with network visibility applications (such as Bluecoat) that allow for monitoring of network activity and
behavior in order to access the Internet. 86
Surveillance methods are more effective when there are fewer targets, and a possible
strategy of the Burmese regime may be to keep more people offline. During the October
2007 Internet shutdown, surveillance, or at least perceived surveillance, was attributed
as a rationale for various government responses, including the government’s policy
of originally limiting Internet access to the curfew hours between 9:00 p.m. and
5:00 a.m. 87 Not only would the late hours significantly reduce the number of users
(as most Burmese users do not have access to the Internet at home), but it would
also make the task of identifying targeted users easier for a government without much
experience in tracking and investigating Internet usage.
In 2008, persistent and severe distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks hit the
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima News in July, the community forums
Mystery Zillion and Planet Myanmar in August, and The Irrawaddy, DVB, and the New
Era Journal in September. 88 In all these attacks, these Web sites, mostly overseas news
organizations, were effectively inaccessible after being flooded with data in short
amounts of time and thus becoming overloaded with information requests. 89
ONI Testing Results
In verifying the parameters of the Internet shutdown in September 2007, researchers
from the OpenNet Initiative were able to determine the outage periods using router
Burma
439