[Islam-Online- Art & Entertainment]

Freedom is that great symbol which all the divine religions called for, that which all civilizations, ideologies, and revolutions struggled to achieve. The Internet and the information age provided the world with a new avenue of this freedom. The Internet has given a new and different dimension to communication between individuals, groups and nations. It has become a market for what is good and what is bad. The type of merchandise displayed on the Internet instigated a civilizational and cultural process of scrutinizing the world wide web in order to distinguish what is good from what is bad. In fact, unanimously, nations have condemned the display of the sex industry and the dissemination of cyber-corruption. However, the infringement of cyber-freedom has been extended to all activities that criticize draconian policies, especially in the Islamic World.

Globally speaking, there are many ways in which this freedom has been compromised. One of these ways is the coding and decoding of disseminated or exchanged information through the Internet. For instance, governments and security agencies can spy on any person that exchanges any type of information on the Internet, especially decoded exchanged information. Such infringements make the freedom of the Internet meaningless. Secondly, Internet providers easily can monitor any information being exchanged as soon as you log on. Internet providers, through software, can monitor all the things you do on the Internet. These include the sites you visited, when, and how. The provider also has access to the web pages you visited and the nature of the information you dealt with, the chats you made, the e-mail you sent or received, and the bills you paid through the Internet.

Is this freedom or a department of the Central Intelligence Agency? One of the great dangers to those browsing the great "Internet prison" is what is called News Groups, where information and messages are archived and anyone has access to view them, read them, copy them even after 20 years to come. Some information can be used against you for decades to come because the Internet does not forget.

Israeli companies are leading the process of developing such software. Programs such as ICQ chat have become popular internationally. The Tel Aviv-based Mirabils Co. produced it. It can easily be used to spy on users, and information can be saved on the hard drives of their computers. Abri Nte Ltd. produced a program called Session Wall-3, which is used to analyze Internet users. It produces detailed reports on users.

Lance Golander, of Terrangon, Oregon, has used the software and is amazed by information provided by the software that exposes his clients. He said, "I never imagined the magnitude of control I have on my clients. It makes me sick to see this much detailed information on them."

Human Rights Watch did a survey of freedom on the Internet in the Middle East last September. The results were posted on their website. HRW concluded that the restrictions imposed on users as well as the cost make it impossible to exchange information via the Net in many countries. However, despite the restrictions imposed, the report predicts the failure of such efforts and an increase in the number of users. It also indicated that more than one million Arabs use the Internet currently and indicated some improvements in the issue of privacy.

Finally, it remains to be asked: When will Muslims be able to breathe freely? The lack of freedom is the main source of backwardness. At any rate, the winds of freedom are coming and no one will be able to stop it.

For more information on the Human Rights' Report log, visit their website at:
www.hrw.org/advocacy/internet/index.htm

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