At 05:54 PM 11/17/95 -0500, "James M. Cobb" <jcobb@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com> wrote:

An 11 17 95 Reuter Information Service newsstory headlined Politics, not sex, is Indonesian Internet's concern ... Activists in Indonesia who use the Internet say it is a power- ful tool for distributing information in a society where self- censorship abounds, newspapers are tightly controlled, jour- nalists are jailed and unlicensed magazines banned.

The primary difference between Indonesian and Singaporean censorship is that the Singaporeans are a lot more urbane about it, and generally don't have crowds of protestors to shoot at. Reporting on the East Timor activity is an especially good way to get kicked out of the country; I know people it's happened to. Uncensorable communications can be a substantial help, though rubber-hose cryptanalysis is still fairly effective, and it's the type of place that would use it. A certain amount of US activism on the East Timor problems is Internet-based; I don't know how connected it is to Indonesia or East Timor, which is too underdeveloped to be very active on the net, and has the added problem that activists are heavily watched. The Indonesian military recruitment process is unfortunately not something that crypto can affect much, except by keeping political activist's identities private so they're not targets. Basically, the draft board knocks on your door and says "Uncle <whoever> wants _you_", and they're authorized to shoot you if you don't cooperate, though they're also authorized to not shoot you. #-- # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, Freelance Information Architect, stewarts@ix.netcom.com # Phone +1-510-247-0663 Pager/Voicemail 1-408-787-1281