Wonderful newsabout facebook.
Is blogspot going to be freed next ? and all4syria? That would be greater still.
Josh is not banned and yet he is heavily infiltrated by the ennemy.

Josh,
The single most important problem with access to the internet in general in Syria is that the network was not set up to support the current frenzy caused primarily by a recently offered cheap access fee, but I do not know which company or companies are the inadvertant culprit(s).

So now that the Minister who had ordered the facebook block is gone, is facebook unblocked by any chance?

I doubt that the minister would have been solely responsible for shutting down Facebook access. There could be other reasons for his dismissal — telecoms is a highly politicised and lucrative sector.

Coincidentally, Turkcell, Turkey’s leading mobile-phone company, has just issued a statement to the Istanbul bourse that it is looking to acquire at least 51% of Syriatel. It seems that Rami Makhlouf and his partners are looking to cash in before the duopoly they have enjoyed for nearly seven years comes to an end in Feb 2008.

Great, maybe I can get http://www.syriapol.org unblocked too.

King Crane of the Basilian Aleppian Order, please email me.

Anyone trying to find scapegoats and excuses to the regime by blaming ministers and administrators for blocking and for the crackdown on free speech and communications other than the regime “which consists of the top circle and the Mokhabarat” is deceiving himself and the public. Syria is a dictatorship, no one move a hair without permission.

The Syrians are afraid of facebook and amazon but are not worried about selling a controlling interest in a major mobile phone company to a Nato member???? Are there any clear thinkers in the regime?

AIG,

Do you think Rami Makhloug gives a rat about Syria? He would sell his mother if he was able to. Isn’t it disgusting that a cousin of the President is able to yield so much ecnomic power and leverage?

I just spoke with a father of a friend of mine who just arrived in the US from Aleppo. He said things are horrible. Aleppo used to be the center for all consumer goods industrial activities, from shampoo’s to shoes to cotton cloths you name it, the new lifting of import tariffs on these goods are causing private small to medium size local factories to shut down faster than they can count them. The interesting news is that most of the companies doing the new imports are connected to the royal asad family.

AIG, there is much for you to learn about Syria my friend, its unfortunate that we seldom hear these things on SC.

Cheers

Bashmann,
I would be happy to learn more. Unfortunately I cannot read Arabic.

If Syria cannot compete in textile and low tech where low salaries are important, what can it compete in? Perhaps Ehsani can enlighten us. Syria’s economy is a mystery to me. Is there anything substantial apart from oil that Syria exports?

The Syrians are afraid of facebook and amazon but are not worried about selling a controlling interest in a major mobile phone company to a Nato member???? Are there any clear thinkers in the regime?

AIG actually the biggest owner of Turkcell is TeliaSonera, which is a Swedish Finnish based company (formed from the old state owned telephone companies Telia and Sonera). Sweden and Finland are not NATO members. Well Turkey is, but what has NATO to do with Syrian telephone company and the Syrian regime AIG? Maybe you have misunderstood, NATO is not Syria’s enemy or on Israel’s side. USA is not NATO.

Didn’t you want Syria to open up and move to a more open society? Maybe it is you AIG who is not thinking clearly. 🙂

TeliaSomera owns parts of telecom companies in several countries of which some are not so “democratic”.

PS
AIG isn’t it strange that Israelis think that Lebanese and Iranians hold in German prisons are bargaining chips. And say that openly. Do democratic countries hold “bargaining chips” in prison after they have served their sentence for other countries?

The of regime core own weight of being in power and holding the biggest chunk of capital in the hand of view will prove to be a burden more than advantage even it was originally planned back in the mid 90s as a strategic policy by the core to control the well being of the whole country for years to come. We should not forget that the planners have over looked at that time that Syria is a social country built on the Baath theories of (Unity, socialism and the funny third they called it freedom).
This kind of clear thinking will prove to be disastrous for them and for the country. Recent move to sell Syriatel could be the signaling of moving capital to work on the international stage, and that is right, these monies are theirs.

Sim,
What part of NATO do you think Russia is exactly afraid of? Let me give you a hint, it is the American part. NATO was created to make sure the Russians understood that if they attacked Europe, America would be at war with the Soviet Union.

By selling a controlling block to Turkey, Syria is making it very easy for the US to gather intelligence from the mobile network.

As usual you have no shame. These Iranian murderers were released EARLY under a special German law. Both Germans and Israelis were against the release. The Israeli request was extermely reasonable yet you find fault in it. People that read this blog regularly know why.

Sim,
What part of NATO do you think Russia is exactly afraid of? Let me give you a hint, it is the American part. NATO was created to make sure the Russians understood that if they attacked Europe, America would be at war with the Soviet Union.

By selling a controlling block to Turkey, Syria is making it very easy for the US to gather intelligence from the mobile network.

Really AIG, you are a wise man. Do you know of what “NATO” is afraid on its Southern front. Why do you think the Germans, French, Italian etc NATO armies (+ Chinese) are having intelligence gathering operations on your northern border? And Russia on the Syrian side?

If a Syrian company is sold to Turkey, Syrians have certainly means to control the “Nato” spying. Do not be so childish AIG, governments have the ultimate control above companies operating there in Israel, Syria and Finland. No matter who owns them.

As usual you have no shame. These Iranian murderers were released EARLY under a special German law. Both Germans and Israelis were against the release. The Israeli request was extermely reasonable yet you find fault in it. People that read this blog regularly know why.

Why then the Germans (without shame) released them? Democracies do not have “bargaining chips”, Israel does. Laws (in this case a normal German law and procedure, not a special one) also go above public opinion. One thing that “you” Israeli settlers do not seem to understand.

Have you ever thought AIG how long Germans should have hold these “chips” in prison? By the way, why are about one third of Palestinian parliament members in Israeli prisons, I haven’t read any news of their trials? Quite a number “bargaining chips”. And AIG should the Americans free the Israeli spy in jail as “you” demand? He is no “bargaining chip”.

Sim,
In Finland does the government have ultimate control over companies, or do their owners? You are hallucinating. Of course the owners have ultimate control on everyday operations.

It is quite common for people to petition parole hearings and sentencing hearings and this is a democratic norm. I don’t know what you are complaining about. Also request for pardon. Nothing wrong with that.

As for the Palestinians, we are at war with them. Israel is a democracy for its citizens, not its enemies. Unlike Syrian regime, which is at war with its people.

In the power tit for tat, the CIA has gotten back at Bush Co for the Valerie Plame outing via the NIE. And now the contrived controversy over the erased CIA torture tape is the Bush Co’s rejoinder to that. But the most significant bit is that it took the US intelligence community to restore a vestige of the system of checks and balances that the Israeli controlled Congress has ceded to another country. Our outlaw President has been momentarily restrained, even if it took the wrong branch of government to do it.
However, based on heavy precedent, this checkmate is only temporary- AIPAC, Bush Camp & Co are regrouping and will be back “to fight another day” in another way, like Al Qaeda hmmm… (Already Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen has been summoned by Gabi Ashkenazi and Barak to get in line as Newsmax conveniently headlined another major 911 threat on their site today).
Scooter Libby trial appeal has also been dropped- a fact hardly noted by the press despite its being another element quite integral to the entire ME mess.

Sim,
In Finland does the government have ultimate control over companies, or do their owners? You are hallucinating. Of course the owners have ultimate control on everyday operations.

Of course AIG it has. If the laws of the country say something about spying the customers in telecom companies, the owners have nothing to say. For example the former managing director of Sonera was trialled for illegal spying of customers. Also if the police has a court order the customer can be “spied” and the owners have nothing to say. Of course it is the governmental system which makes the rules.

Maybe it is in Israel different. If the Arabs buy your telecom companies, which they could do, because some of them are listed companies and they have the capital, could they spy how they want Israelis? Do not be so childish AIG.

As for the Palestinians, we are at war with them. Israel is a democracy for its citizens, not its enemies. Unlike Syrian regime, which is at war with its people.

You are at war against people who you have robbed and whose children you have been killing for decades? Well, well AIG. In some democracy do you live. “Bargaining chips” indeed. By the way aren’t you trying to make peace with your “enemies” who had a democratic elections or do you plan to steal more?

Sim,

As usual you contradict yourself. Why would there be a peace process with the Palestinians unless they were Israel’s enemies? And why does Israel or any other country have to give its enemies the same rights it gives its citizens? This is trivial common sense that you fail to acknowledge. The Syrian government on the other hans, is at war with its own people. Go figure that out.

In Israel the articles of the telecommunications companies are such that they cannot sell a controlling share position without government approval. It is because, contrary to your ridiculous claims, the government cannot control and monitor every piece of hardware or software that an operator puts in a network. And if there is a sophisticated operator, there is very little chance for the government to figure out if the network is compromised or not.

And as for the Arabs buying the publicly traded companies, you just do not understand how this works. Once you reach a certain percent ownership in a public company (usually 5%) you have to stop buying shares and declare your ownership and then if you want to purchase more you have to give an ofer to all shareholders. At this point the Israeli government can easily block the process and would block the process.

Foreign ownership of a company doesn’t make it easier for the country from which the new owner came to spy on its new customers. In Europe privacy laws are enforced regardless of the origin of the parent company.

CWW,
You are mixing up legal issues and technological issues.
Sure, the change of control does not make the law different, but it makes it much easier for the person controlling the company to circumvent the law. Intelligence gathering is already done in gray areas anyway, the change of control just makes things easier.

And what do you think of Obadiah Shoher’s arguments against the peace process ( samsonblinded.org/blog/we-need-a-respite-from-peace.htm )?