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ISPs ASKED TO MONITOR E-MAIL TRAFFIC

The Zimbabwean government is demanding that the country's Internet service providers (ISP) monitor the content of their customers' e-mail, a move that signals further attempts to clamp down on free expression, according to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

Telone, the state-owned telecommunications monopoly, has asked ISPs to sign commercial contracts committing them to take "all necessary measures" to prevent the transmission of illegal material online.

The contracts call for ISPs to take preventive measures against "objectionable, obscene and unauthorised" content without defining what constitutes "objectionable" or "unauthorised," says RSF. The proposed contracts also commit ISPs to disclosing the origin of e-mail messages deemed questionable.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition party, says it has already become a target for e-mail monitoring. According to a Reuters report, the party's ISP blocked one of its e-mail messages last week because it contained "sensitive content."

In March 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the Post and Telecommunications Act, which gives the government powers to monitor individuals' telephone conversations and Internet activity, was unconstitutional.

Visit these links:

- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10551
- RSF Report on Zimbabwe:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7217&Valider=OK
- Reuters: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04153157.htm
- Kubatana.net: http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/inftec/040604kub.asp?sector=INFTEC