5/23/22, 2:51 AM Internet Filtering in Burma in 2005: A Country Study | OpenNet Initiative Burma's commitment to regulating Internet content through technical methods is demonstrated by its purchase and ongoing implementation of filtering software from the U.S. company Fortinet. Our research suggests that Burma continues to seek to refine its censorship regime. Burma's system of Internet control shows no signs of lessening, and may worsen as it moves to a more sophisticated software product and as the state moves to tighten on-line restrictions.1 2. Political, Technical, and Legal Context in Burma A. Sensitive/Controversial Topics for Media Coverage The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)'s censorship efforts are focused mostly on suppressing pro-democracy groups, especially the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.2 The state is very sensitive to international criticism regarding human rights violations, repeatedly accusing Amnesty International of acting as a dissident propaganda vehicle,3 and the United Nations of using Burma as a politically expedient "soft target."4 Pornographic materials are also forbidden, and the state blocks a significant number of pornographic websites, but SPDC's primary motivations for censorship appear to be political as opposed to moral or cultural. We found these sensitivities reflected in our testing of technological filtering of the Internet. B. Internet Infrastructure and Access There are two ISPs in Burma, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT) and the semi-private Bagan Cybertech (BC). Each is estimated to have roughly 15,000 subscribers; observers believe that, on average, each subscription services from five to ten people, placing Burma's Internet penetration at 0.6% at most (a rate similar to its reported telephone density of 0.68%). Most of the subscriptions are via dial-up connections, and the quality of the phone lines is low, providing connection speeds of 24kbps at best. Furthermore, since computers are too expensive for most Burmese citizens, and dial-up accounts only provide access to the Myanmar Internet and state-run e-mail services, most Burmese Internet users access the Internet from cybercafés in Rangoon and Mandalay. Broadband connections are available, primarily to businesses, via ADSL (with about 1000 subscribers), wireless local loop (WLLBreezeLan 2.4gHz point-tomultipoint access via at least four Points of Presence, three in Rangoon and one in Mandalay, with about 1800 subscribers), or small iPSTAR satellite terminals using bandwidth acquired from Shin Satellite, part of the corporate empire of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Outside the country's two major cities (Rangoon and Mandalay), the roughly 1000 iPSTAR terminals are often the only way to obtain a telephone line, let alone Internet connectivity; approximately 70% of installations are used only for Internet telephony via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Broadband services range in speed from 64kbps to 512kbps. ADSL is the newest and cheapest broadband, costing under $700 US for installation (while WLL and iPSTAR solutions cost over $2000 US). MPT's broadband is available only to government institutions, while corporate and personal subscribers account for the majority of BC's users. MPT is connected to the SEA-ME-WE-3 undersea cable and is estimated to have about 45mbps in bandwidth that it shares with BC. BC, in addition, has a 15mbps satellite connection. Both are believed to ground in Hong Kong. Observers estimate that the MPT uses at least half of the country's aggregate 60mbps in international IP connectivity for VoIP, leaving about 30mbps of Internet bandwidth. Besides the two official ISPs, a select few organizations have reportedly established their own Internet access, including a number of foreign embassies (those of the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and Thailand), international organizations (the UNDP and UNICEF/IOM/IOL), and powerful foreign energy-related commercial interests such as Total and Schlumberger. It is believed that these connections are not licensed by the MPT, but it appears that the MPT at least toleraes them. At the time of ONI's testing in spring 2005, Bagan Cybertech employed the DansGuardian open source filtering software to block access to selected Internet sites.5However, Burma purchased the Fortinet firewall product in May 2004, apparently with the intention of using the software in e-government projects and for Web content filtering.6Fortinet's filtering solution incorporates a firewall server and a database that categorizes Web pages.7ONI's research and in-country contacts indicate that Burma is migrating from the DansGuardian platform to Fortinet to implement its technical filtering regime. In-country sources provided text of the "block page" displayed when a Bagan Cybertech user tries to access a prohibited site; this text has characteristics of the Fortiguard filtering product. ONI contacted Fortinet directly, by telephone and by e-mail, to obtain the company's input on the use of its product in Burma. We asked the company to respond to the following four questions: 1. Has Burma implemented one of Fortinet's products? If so, where, what, and for how long? 2. Does Fortinet know of the product's use? What functions are being used? Are there functions that are being used exclusively in Burma? https://opennet.net/studies/burma 2/15