RIYADH, 6 May 2004 — Millions of Internet users in the Kingdom were unable to access their Hotmail accounts yesterday. The problem began Tuesday evening and continued through most of Wednesday as people using both local Internet service providers (ISPs) and satellite connections complained that the website was inaccessible.
King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the main government body that filters and operates the high-speed data links that connect Saudi Arabia to the international Internet, refused to comment.
A KACST spokesman said the problem had nothing to do with them. He said KACST would not issue a statement about the problem since “it has nothing to do with KACST or local ISPs. We are therefore not in a position to comment.”
A recent study done by Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Harvard Law School on Internet filtering in Saudi Arabia has revealed that KACST blocks websites that not only contain sexual material but also such categories as religion, health, women’s rights, education, reference, humor sites and entertainment (music and videos).
The study said that a total of 246 pages were blocked from Yahoo religious categories, including Islam (45), Christianity (67), Judaism (20), and Hinduism (12). Sites that promote religious tolerance — religioustolerance.org and answering-Islam.org — are also blocked. Other blocked sites pertaining to health included illegal drugs, the war on drugs, and the effects and risks of drugs. Certain women’s sites such as women.eb.com were also blocked.
As for entertainment, 251 pages that were classified by their authors or by Yahoo, as providing music, movies, or entertainment news were blocked.
In other computer news, the fast-spreading Sasser computer worm has wreaked havoc on the users of the Windows operating system. Arab News received many calls from people complaining that they were unable to log on to Hotmail or that they had problems using MSN Messenger. As a result of the worm, there was a considerable delay in e-mail-based operations.
Many ISPs confirmed their inability to access Hotmail but ruled out their responsibility, saying it was an international problem.
Speaking for Nesma, Navid-ur-Rehman said it was mainly a Hotmail server problem. “Users of Yahoo are also having similar problems. This has been going on for the last month and a half but it has gotten much worse in the last 12 hours or so.”
M.A. Fahim, at Zajil, another local ISP, said they had received many complaints concerning Hotmail access and MSN chatting. He attributed the problem to the computer worm Sasser.
