Google Earth Blocked in Bahrain

07 Aug, 2006 73 Comments · email  · print  

Now we know why the Ministry of DISinformation is so desperate to control the Internet:

Bahrain, as viewed through Google Earth before it was blocked by the Bahraini governmentAccording to Al-Wasat this morning, the Ministry of DISinformation has instructed the Bahrain Internet Exchange to block Google Earth. Possibly because through Google Earth, the whole world, let alone the Bahraini users, can zoom in and have a good look at palaces and islands which a normal Bahraini wouldn’t even dream of one day coming close to, let alone stepping foot in, and the glaring confiscation of virtually all but 3% of beaches of the islands.

And typical of the Bahriani government, they think that by forcing people to stick their heads in the sands, they no longer will complain about the disproportionate distribution of wealth, the dirth of lands (more than 95% of the whole of the country of Bahrain is in private hands, leaving nothing for development projects and low income housing etc) and the various other top-secret nature of land ownership in this country.

This step completely shows the moronic nature of the Ministry of DISinformation, and BIX with its unconstitutional board and the typical “control” mentality that the Bahraini government seems to think is the proper management ideology to adopt to run the country.

Well, they blocked it…


HERE’S HOW YOU CAN UNBLOCK IT

.

dickheads.

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73 Responses to “Google Earth Blocked in Bahrain”

  1. Branden Reply 28 Nov, 2006 at 21:01

    Hi All Experts,
    Does anyone use google earth images as ground image planes for use in aerial scenes. I know how to stitch them together but are there any tools or tricks to make sure that the images are at the same height, angle and such to make sure they stitch well. I know in the pro version you can get bigger images but im not going to pay for the pro version when i could stitch multiple images together…

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  2. Jeff Reply 02 Dec, 2006 at 5:21

    I guess folks are going to need democratic access to geospatial imagery content, which is coming soon…

    http://www.echomyplace.com

    can’t be blocked

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  3. Waleed Reply 24 Jan, 2007 at 2:36

    Congratulations on being mentioned in the Feb. 2007 issue of “Maximum PC” magazine.

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  4. mahmood Reply 24 Jan, 2007 at 9:45

    Oh wow, thanks for letting me know. Do you have a link?

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  5. Anonymous Reply 24 Jan, 2007 at 12:51

    :wub: الكره الارضيه

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  6. Anonymous Reply 13 May, 2007 at 14:20

    Story in L.A. Times today about Google, Bahrain, and our host Mahmood.

    Is this old?

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-ft-bahrain4dec04,1,1102601.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true

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  7. Anonymous Reply 13 May, 2007 at 14:22

    it is. dec 4, 2006.

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  8. Anonymous Reply 27 May, 2007 at 16:27

    it is easy to access google earth, even if the country deny it.
    you have just to use a public proxy server.
    look for a “public proxy server’ on internet and take one an configure your PC with it.
    The traffic will be pointed to porxy server rather than the google earth server, this connection will be invisble for the filters that the provider is putting there.
    Enjoy

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  9. Kolby Debrish Reply 14 Jun, 2007 at 11:32

    This one makes sence “One’s first step in wisdom is to kuesstion everything – and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.”

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Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. A Higher Bar - 17 Jan, 2007

    t looked at their neighbors backyard? Now if you are worried about your neighbors checking out your backyard, how would you feel if you were the royal family in Bahrain? The Bahrain Ministry of Information recently attempted to block the countries citizens from using Google Earth. It seems the citizens were using the software to peer onto the grounds of the royal family. You see the disparity between the royals and the average citizen is pushing a large equality drive, apparently

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  2. Wyome Blog - 09 Dec, 2006

    This Article from Mahmood has been featured on Boing Boing.

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  3. …My heart’s in Accra - 04 Dec, 2006

    ve got at least two reactions to the rise in government censorship of the Internet. One is, of course, alarm: Ethiopia blocking blogs, Iran blocking YouTube and Wikipedia, Zimbabwe threatening independent journalists who file stories online, Bahrain’s brief block of Google Maps, ongoing blocking of media in China, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and dozens of other states… it’s easy to see the Internet fragmenting into Internets through government crackdown on free voices. It’

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  4. Roodlicht: Zoekmachine Marketing Blog - 02 Dec, 2006

    In Bahrein, het kleine oliestaatje, is Google Earth kort verbannen geweest omdat hierdoor inzicht kan worden verkregen in de rijkdom en grootgrondbezit van de oliesjeiks. De detailweergave van Google Earth is zo groot, of de landgoederen van de oliesjeiks zijn zo groot – dat kan ook -, dat de oliesjeiks het gebruik zien als

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  5. theblogverse.com - 26 Nov, 2006

    sea for fishermen. People knew this already. But they never saw it. All they saw were the surrounding walls,” said Mr Yousif, who is seen in Bahrain as the grandfather of its blogging community. Link, Link to PDF closeups of Bahrain’s palaces, Mahmoud’s Den coverage (Thanks, Marilyn) [IMG]

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  6. Cowboy Media - 10 Oct, 2006

    who voice their concerns in very clear terms. To be honest, Bahrain Bloggers provide a better picture of what’s going on in the Kingdom than the mainstream media. Mahmood and mahmood.tv already hold a legendary status in the blogosphere. “Bahrain’s transparency on human rights, workers’ security and its democratic institutions” Gulf Daily News tries its best to be the regional Tabloid. Wife’s killers lose appeal MANAMA: A Bangladeshi couple sentenced to death for the brutal murder of a Bahraini

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  7. Christian Spanring’s Blog - 17 Aug, 2006

    critical issues like video observations, biometric security or data mining projects (hello AOL!). So I’m wondering what is it what the Kingdom of Bahrain wants to hide from its people. Have you done something bad Bahrain? Read some more details in this post. Information means power, free information is the key to a free world. (via OE) 0 comments.

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  8. Global Voices Online - 17 Aug, 2006

    Bahrain’s Internet scene witnessed what could be described this week as ‘no step forward and 10 steps backwards!’ On Monday, newspapers reported that the Kingdom would ban

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  9. Pricklepen - 16 Aug, 2006

    Bahrain blocks Google Earth

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  10. Global Voices Online - 14 Aug, 2006

    Bahrain’s Internet scene witnessed what could be described this week as ‘no step forward and 10 steps backwards!’ On Monday, newspapers reported that the Kingdom would ban

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  11. clipperisms - 13 Aug, 2006

    So that basically means, if we were all monkeys, the Ministry of (dis)information would look something like the little guy on the bottom left… ———————————– For those readers unfamiliar with what this post refers to, check this out.

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  12. UAE community blog - 13 Aug, 2006

    Bahrain is in ‘reach’ mode after blocking Google Earth, apparently because it was showing too many palaces and islands belonging to private parties highlighting the disproportionate distribution of wealth. Just the right place for the rest of the Middle East to look upto.

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  13. kashifmahbub.com » Blog Archive » Google Earth exposing royal’s palaces in Bahrain - 27 Nov, 2006

    [...] Link, Link to PDF closeups of Bahrain’s palaces, Mahmoud’s Den coverage [...]

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  14. …My heart’s in Accra » Cute Cat Theory: The China Corollary - 04 Dec, 2007

    [...] the non-weird as well as the weird, that’s an opportunity to broaden protest movements. When Bahrain blocked Google Earth, in apparent response to a document showing land distribution in the country using imagery from the [...]

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