(Links i dette indlæg er på engelsk, medmindre andet er angivet)

Etiopiere har rettet deres opmærksomhed mod det kontroversielle lovforslag, der kriminaliserer brugen af Voice Over Internet Protocol-tjenester (VoIP) som Skype og Google Talk. Netbrugere er især oprørte over landets statsejede Ethio-Telecom, der fremlagde lovforslaget. Meles Zenawis regering hævder, at hensigten med forslaget er at forhindre eksterne sikkerhedstrusler.

Flere Facebook-grupper er allerede blevet dannet for at fordømme den statskontrollerede serviceudbyder af telekommunikation. En af grupperne er Ethio-Telecom Sucks, der indtil videre har 1297 medlemmer. Gruppens medlemmer deler normalt deres frustration over Ethio-Telecom, men det nylige kontroversielle lovforslag om telekommunikation og  implementeringen af Deep Packet Inspection, en netværkspakke-filtrering der behandler internettraffik, gjorde at medlemmerne blev mere højlydte.

Logoet for Facebook-gruppen,Ethio Telecom Sucks. Billedkilde: Gruppens Facebookside

Et medlem af gruppen skriver [amh]:

In our country yesterday was better than today and sure today is better than tomorrow. Therefore, just like our great grand fathers it is better for us to be grateful for everything and move on. We should not be shocked with the prohibition of Skype and Google Talk because I am convinced that there will be laws that will proscribe us to use aerogram instead of email in the future.

Mens de udtrykker deres foragt for lovforslaget, sammenligner nogle etiopiere det med den omstridte anti-terrorisme lov. En anden kommentar siger:

Instead of passing this crazy legislation wasn’t it sensible to just block the VOIP protocol if it is really for national security ?(That is if using Skype really vests a trait) Unless the intention of this open ended law is to use it to convict people with no real grounds at all and just arrest whoever they want. This just sounds like a succession of the Terrorism law

Daniel Berhane er uenig. Han bebrejder regeringens pr-maskine for ikke at forklare essensen af lovforslaget og bebrejder samtidig de vestlige medier for at skynde sig at fordømme forslaget uden først at bekræfte om forslaget blev vedtaget eller ej.

Daniel skriver i et indlæg med titlen “Skype me Indeed”:

Though the media rush to make unverified claims, which is obviously based on remarks from some local politicians/activists, is disturbing, it is the Ethiopian government’s inability and unwillingness to provide info mainly to be blamed. Strangely, officials in Addis were as informed on the matter as the guy on the street regarding the matter in the past week.

For Mesfin Negash er det ligegyldigt om forslaget blev vedtaget eller ej. Han pointerer at det er sædvane for den etiopiske regering at opfordre borgere til at gøre noget, for senere at kriminalisere det. Han viser hvordan ministeriet for informationsteknologi promoverer brugen af VoIP på dets website. Den sektion af websitet, der promoverer brugen af VoIP, blev straks taget ned da lovforslaget blev offentliggjort. Mesfin Negash deler et screenshot af denne sektion på facebook :

Promote then criminalize! Two days ago I visited Ministry of Communication and Information Technology's website http://www.mcit.gov.et/?q=home.aspx. In the service section of the site, one of the services promoted was VoIP. It was laughable to read one government promoting and criminalizing VoIP. Right now I could access all the content of the section except that of VoIP.
Fortunately I had captured the page that promoted VoIP. The first line of this subsection of VoIP reads: “If you've never heard of VoIP, get ready to change the way you think about long-distance phone calls.” Interesting. Promote then criminalize looks the underlying working principle of MZ. Promote freedom of speech then make it a crime, promote freedom of assembly then criminalize it…..promote VoIP then criminalize. Next time you hear something promoted expect the criminalization.

Argaw Ashine, der skrev om historien for Africa Review for første gang inden den blev samlet op af massemedierne, skriver:

I read some distorted headlines mentioning my name as a source about the new telecom law which criminalizes use of VoIP which includes , Skype, Viber, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and Pal-talk etc. To make clear, The imprisonment for using social media software is 2-8 years and internet phone calling service provision(intent cafe) is punishable up to 15 years.

I respect and appreciate all the efforts by other media organizations but I am not responsible for any other publication/broadcast except the one published by my own agency Africa Review or the whole NMG outlets.

Endalk analyserer kort lovforslaget på hans blog:

This proclamation [bill] provides broad and ambiguous definitions particularly for telecommunication services and equipment which might be used to include blogging and possessing social media pages such as facebook and twitter.

The draft Proclamation defines telecommunication services as anything designated as telecommunication service by Ministry of Information Technology (MIT) with the exception of broadcasting and intercom connections and listed more than ten services that are considered as telecom services. Furthermore the proclamation enlarges the definition of telecommunication equipment in considerable ways to include any apparatus intended to use for telecommunication services and it includes its accessory and software.