UAE blocks access to AOL
Gulf News reports that Etisalat, UAE’s state sanctioned ISP, has blocked all access to AOL, because AOL’s home page featured an advertisement for an anti-censorship proxy. The article helpfully includes two Etisalat email addresses for reporting complaints: watch@emirates.net.ae and custserv@emirates.net.ae.
Call centres have received calls from people complaining that they cannot access the site. “They will also not be able to access their email on AOL,” [an anonymous source] said.[...]
If you try to access such sites, you get a cryptic message on the screen saying, ‘Blocked Site, Access denied’.
Etisalat subscribers are advised not to utilise the service for “any other criminal or unlawful purpose such as, but not limited to vice, gambling or obscenity or for carrying out any activity which is contrary to the social, cultural, political, economical or religious values of the UAE.” – Gulf News, AOL site blocked for bypassing proxy.