So today we learn that the Ministry of Communication officially plans to prohibit the “commercial use” of services like Skype
Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahas will not prevent individuals from using VoIP in Lebanon but only those using this service for commercial purposes will be stopped
Expect that to be the ministry’s main talking point in upcoming talk shows and press interviews on the matter. They want you to believe that this law is actually good for you, the regular guy. That the government is only taking money from big businesses and sparing the grandmas and grandpas who just want to see their grand kids.
Don’t fall for that. That is cheap government talk to justify the creation of an environment that is more hostile to businesses and to consumers. Small businesses will be affected by this, and they’ll dump the extra costs on you. All this because of what? Because of Ogero’s “Revenue Losses”. Because, instead of embracing a technology that makes international communications faster and cheaper, the government wants to protects its dinosaurs that did things the old ways.
It’s like banning computers because the typewriter factory is owned by the government. But don’t worry, only businesses will be affected.
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I've been blogging about Lebanese society, business and politics since February 2005.
The next thing is for them to ban iPads, Nooks, Kindles and all e reading tablets because they are disruptive technologies. What are they thinking??