Price, not politics, prohibits easy Web access in Cuba, report says
Okay, the first really annoying thing about this whole thing is that Reporters without Borders want to start a protest movement against Castro's censorship of Cubans on the internet. So what? "He can stay as long as Cubans can get on the internet"?
To basically sum it up: Cubans have two kinds of access to the internet. They go to the post office or to an internet cafe and:
1. Pay $1.50 to go online to an intranet server to access e-mail or,
2. Pay $4.50 to go to the global internet.
The problem is that, for most cubans, salary for one month is around $15 (as of November 2005) so, number one, they arent going to spend 25% of their income for the month to go online. Chances are they have kids to feed and taxes to pay. Even if they can get online, the internet is under constant surveillance from the government. Even in the report, the french journalist fled when the e-mail she was sending resulted in a pop-up that stated that the program she was using would shut down. She says she fled the area.
There are computers in hotels but Cubans are not allowed into any of the tourists spots in Cuba, so thats out of the question. Dont get me wrong. There are some people who do have access to the internet but for their safety I wont mention their names. These are people who work for the government.
To quote the CIA World Factbook: "private citizens are prohibited from buying computers or accessing the Internet without special authorization; foreigners may access the Internet in large hotels but are subject to firewalls; some Cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market or take advantage of public outlets, to access limited email and the government-controlled "intranet"'
Peeve of the Day Links
CBS News: Cuba Cracks Down on Web Access
The Reporters Without Borders Report on Cuban Internet
