BoingBoing reader exiledsurfer says,
i have not been able to determine why yet, but youtube has been blocked in turkey by a court order. typing any youtube url while in turkey gives the following screen:www.youtube.com sitesine eriÅŸim İstanbul 1. Sulh Ceza Mahkemesi’nin 2007/384 sayı ve 06.03.2007 tarihli kararı gereği engellenmiÅŸtir.
Access to www.youtube.com site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/384 dated 06.03.2007 of Istanbul First Criminal Peace Court.
interestingly, the ban seems to be browser specific, as youtube is still accessible thru firefox for some wierd reason. Youtube files which are embedded in other websites still are accessible as well.
A quick websearch hasnt turned up anyone else covering this development so far… so i dont know if it is copyright law related, or if it is another enactment of the 301 law in turkey which is the political speech law that Orhan Pamuk and many other turkish authors and dissidents have been prosecuted under in the last years.
UPDATE: This wire service report says the Turkish government banned YouTube today because of videos “insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.” Snip:
Paul Doany, head of Turk Telekom, Turkey’s largest telecommunications provider, said his company had begun immediately enforcing the ban.
“We are not in the position of saying that what YouTube did was an insult, that it was right or wrong,” Doany said in remarks to the state-run Anatolia news agency. “A court decision was proposed to us, and we are doing what that court decision says.”
Doany said Turk Telekom would allow access to the popular video sharing site again if the court decision were rescinded. Access from Turkey might be possible through other service providers, he said.
Link. Kind of odd to see this happening when Turkey tourism ads have just started airing on CNN and other US television networks, part of a year-long, $120 million promotional effort. Perhaps the Tourism Ministry might try a new slogan in the next round of TV ads: “Visit Turkey and shut up.”
Turkish youtubers, here is a collection of tips for routing around internet censorship from broken governments: Link to BoingBoing’s “defeat censorware” guide.
UPDATE 2: Here’s what internet users in Turkey see now when they try to access YouTube. Link to full-size (thanks Boor Rat)
