Information About PAC’s
A Public Access Center (PAC) license costs $60/
month, and while not all cybercafés are licensed
PACs, this is the operational route required by the
government to be licensed. Both PAC management
and individual customer use come with extensive
requirements. For example, each computer is required
to have key loggers and a screenshot taken and
stored every 5 minutes, and every other week all
screenshots and accompanying data are required to
be put onto a CD and sent to Myanmar Info-Tech.
Anecdotally, many PAC owners use spyware to watch
what their users are doing, often for their own
interests.66
Myanmar PAC Regulations
1. All cybercafé users must supply their name,
identity card or Passport Number, address, and
phone number to the cybercafé. Cyber cafe
owners must record their identities.67
2. Internet Usage must be recorded in
Date/Time/Screen Shot/URLs format and sent to
Myanmar Info-Tech via CD-Rom every 2 weeks.
3. Owners and operators of cybercafés must keep
backup logs of Internet usage.
4. Screenshots must be taken every 5 minutes.
5. Monitors must be faced to side where they can be
easily viewed publicly.
6. Cybercafés must post a sign stating, "Only
subscribers of MPT's official email and Mail4U can
use email. Other email use is not allowed."
7. Cybercafés must post a sign stating, "Tunneling
Website/Software are prohibited."
8. Cybercafés must post a sign stating that "Cyber
Crimes (Hacking, Virus Distribution, Port scanning
and etc.) and acts against Myanmar culture are
prohibited".
9. No access of political web sites is allowed.
66
Multiple conversations with local IT professionals
See Appendix II, Photo 6 for original version in Myanmar. See “Burmese regulations for cybercafés stringent as expected,” OpenNet
Initiative, July 2, 2008, http://opennet.net/blog/2008/07/Myanmar-regulations-cybercafes-stringent-expected.
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