[I wrote this article before seeing the mail from the Singapore government to one political site. Note the site, sintercom, is not set up by political candidates -- it is intended for political discussions, much like Politech or Slashdot. See the text below. --Declan] ********* http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,44866,00.html Slinging Shots at Singapore By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com) 2:00 a.m. July 9, 2001 PDT SAN MATEO, California -- Singapore's most twisted, droll and insanely popular humor site launched quietly enough last year after one of its editors got dumped from a dying Internet company in the United States. "I was in a failed dot-com, and I was trying to figure out what to do after that," said Singapore expatriate K.K. Cheong, editor of TalkingCock. "A bunch of us got together and started brainstorming and decided that what Singapore really needs is a real humor magazine. Something edgy." One year later, TalkingCock has become the country's equivalent of The Onion or MadCowCulture -- a smart, savvy, and occasionally raunchy humor zine that delights in poking fun at Singaporean culture and politics. Some recent headlines include an undeniably funny mock interview with President Bush, an article entitled "Singapore's Worst Job Revealed: Wanking Elephants," and a report on helpful civil servants offering to impregnate Singaporean wives who have difficulty conceiving a child. [...] The Singapore Straits-Times reported last month that in addition to regulating how political parties may use the Web, the government also wants to enforce "responsible use" of the Internet by news organizations. ... A Singapore government source who is familiar with TalkingCock said on Wednesday it was too soon to tell how worried the site's writers should be. "It would be going after the content and not specific websites," said the source, who did not want to be identified. "It would not be the case that TalkingCock.com by its very nature would be subject to regulation. It would depend on its content." [...] ********* [This letter has been retyped from postal mail and is provided to me by a very reliable source. sintercom.org is not related to talkingcock.com other than they share a similar user base and both openly discuss issues about Singaporean life, making them something of a rarity. (sintercom is more serious and talkingcock is purely satire.) The sintercom editors are now reportedly considering options such as moving the site offshore, saying that an earlier legal exemption still applies, or allowing the Singapore government to censor whatever they like and replacing deleted content with a big "CENSORED BY SBA" logo. --Declan] 7 July 2001 Dear Mr Tan and Ms Goh Registration of Website - Sintercom 1. We note that your website www.sintercom.org engages in the propagation, promotion and discussion of political issues relating to Singapore. 2. Please be informed that under the Singapore Boradcasting Authority (class Licence) Notification 1996, any body of persons engaged in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political issues relating to Singapore on the Internet is required to register with the Authority. 3. Please complete the enclosed registration form B and form B2, and return the completed forms to me within 14 days fromthe date of this letter. 4. Do feel free to call me at 837 9385 should you have any queries. Thank you. Yours sincerely Paglar Yvonne Ann (Ms) Management executive (new media policy) for Chief executive officer SBA [Form B is entitled: Political parties ergistered in Singapre OR individuals/groups/organisations/corporations providing political or religious content] [Form B2 is a declaration: site agrees to accept full responsibility for the content on the abovementioned website, including the content of discussion groups carried on it.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message -----