Facebook Page Protests File Sharing Website Ban in Malaysia

The Facebook protest went on papers too

Thanks to Facebook, a throng of over 8000 Malaysians can gather online and let their voices be heard. This particular meeting was triggered by the recent file sharing website ban imposed by SKKM, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

TorrentFreak reported that a memo was sent to Internet Service Providers to ban ten file sharing websites, including Pirate Bay and Megaupload. The decision was made to reduce pornographic content and most likely also to battle against piracy content on the Internet. But to many Malaysians (especially to those who ‘like’ the Facebook page) blocking the pornography websites makes more sense. From the DontBockFS Facebook page:

MCMC has released an official order to block access to file sharing web sites to all ISPs in Malaysia. The move is quite drastic and will surely enrage internet users in Malaysia. Do you agree with this move? Should they block pornography sites instead of file sharing websites? Now They Block File Sharing Websites, Next ? Facebook, Twitter?

The page was created yesterday and has so far gathered more than 8,000 supporters. It hit 7,000 today at about 2.30pm in the afternoon (GMT +8) which the folks “celebrated” with a graph.

Hurray. 7,000 'likes'

Despite the huge reaction from Malaysians, Karyawan president Datuk Freddie Fernandez said the ban was a “tremendous move” by the Government.

“The music industry definitely applauds this decision because filesharing is against the law. It is piracy,” he said. The ten websites within the memo are:

• http://www.warez-bb.org
• http://thepiratebay.org
• http://www.movie2k.to
• http://www.megavideo.com
• http://www.putlocker.com
• http://www.depositfiles.com
• http://www.duckload.com
• http://www.fileserve.com
• http://www.filetube.com
• http://www.megaupload.com

This isn’t the first time that Malaysians gathered together on Facebook to protest against Internet-related decisions made by the government. In April, the government introduced 1Malaysia email which gives citizens an email account dedicated to receiving official governmental documents. The program which cost $50 million Ringgit ($16 million), caused a stir on Facebook as well. Many believe that the money can be invested in other much needed areas, such as improving Internet access in the country. One Facebook user said, “Dear PM there’s something called Gmail.”