Laritza Diversent, Translator: Unstated
The predictions for the development of internet in Cuba added to the
darkness, after the coming of the fiber optic cable to Cuba collided
with the political interests of the Communist government which, in the
last decade, developed a legal and technological infrastructure, to
control the flow of information to and from the island, via internet.
The majority of independent bloggers are expecting to see what will
happen, this upcoming July, the structure of the web on the island,
connect to the optical fiber cable, in the beginning of February, came
to the island from Venezuela.
The anticipation will multiply by 3.000 speed of data transmission, but
also serve for the government to confess its fear using individual
virtual tools of information.
In 1996 Cuba officially connected to the internet, but the government
left sitting, legally, its political respect to full access of the
services that are offered. Ever Since the "internet of internets" is
administrated centrally from the Telecommunications Company of Cuba
S.A., ETECSA, and exploited by authorized state institutions expressed
by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC).
At the end of January, the government announced the sale of foreign
actions by ETECSA, and the purchase, in $706 million dollars, for part
of RAFIN, another Cuban company. The possession of the major part of the
actions, Cuba allows the primary provider of public service of
"Transmission of Data".
"Increasing the sovereignty technology in the development of the
infrastructure of telecommunications" one of previous strategies in the
Alignment of the Political Economic and Social that adopted in the event
entry of the next quarter.
In late March, the daily Granma said, according to statements by Justice
Minister Maria Esther Reus, that "Cuba will adjust the existing legal
rules to the decisions that are adopted as a result of the Sixth
Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba."
Motivated by the arrival of fiber optic cable to Cuba, the deputy
minister of MIC, Jorge Luis Perdomo, referred to the development of the
first Telecommunications Act to regulate the sector and to "promote in
an orderly way" the services it encompasses.
Since 2000 the Cuban government implemented, legally and
technologically, an infrastructure that allows it to control access by
Cubans to the Internet, through a hierarchical network of state
agencies, identified as providers of "public Internet access."
That same year, it legally established an international common access
point to the network (NAP), ensuring that all international outgoing
Internet goes through this connection. Thus it assure that the
interconnections between domestic internet users are routed through
national means of transmission.
Providers of Public Service Internet Access can not accept requests for
installation for a person who is not authorized by the MIC. However, the
regulations governing the activity requires them to accept as users "all
natural or legal persons who want it."
However, the laws themselves have the reservation. Suppliers offer their
services "… with no other limitations than those imposed by the laws in
force in the country. "
Since 1996 the government declared that "… access to the services of the
worldwide information networks will be selective" and "will have to be
approved by the Interministerial Commission, composed of five ministers
and chaired by the head of the MIC."
The strategy was "… full access to the internet … but in a regulated
manner." The line was drawn "according to national interests, focusing
on the connection of legal persons and institutions of greatest
relevance to the life and development of the country. "
Among other legal commitments, these Providers "are required to define
the authorization to persons and entities who need to use services to
access national or international Internet," including "… remote access …
from the home or anywhere in the country … and from the exterior."
They also have a duty to report the number of users with full access to
the Internet, those who have email accounts and IP addresses. They also
demand the number of computers that access the network from places of
residence and access for the public. A provider who fails to comply with
the regulations of the MIC, loses its operating license.
In 2004 the government named an "Internet Zone", with spaces in hotels,
Internet cafes, etc., which provide navigation services of the Internet
and e-mail to the public, at prices between 1.50 and 10.00 convertible
pesos (CUC) for one hour of access to the web.
and in 2008, they fully regulated service these centers, after president
Raúl Castro announced that the Islanders could receive services in
hotels, and were authorized to buy computers on the retail market in
hard currency.
From that time the alternative Cuban blogosphere began to develop,
currently composed of 40 blogs of government critics, belonging to a
group of citizens, especially young people, who update their sites from
the hotels, embassies and with the help of friends abroad.
Providers must also block "access to sites whose contents are contrary
to social interests, ethics and morals as well as the use of
applications that affect the integrity or security of the state."
One of the jobs of the Interministerial Commission created by the
government in 1996 was to ensure that information disseminated "… is
accurate, and that it is obtained is in line with ethical principles,
and does not affect the interests or security of the country."
On the eve of XIV Informatics Convention and Trade Fair 2011, held in
Havana in early February, the government opened access to the Cuban
Voices Portal and to the blog of Yoani Sánchez, Generación Y, on Cuba
servers.
The government is mainly concerned that the new generation of dissidents
is using Twitter, Facebook and other online social networks. These
websites were used to organize protests that led to several revolutions
in the Middle East and Africa, earlier this year.
The possibility that the government, at the upcoming party congress,
would adopt measures restricting the use of new information technologies
and full access to the network, added to the concerns of those who use
it as a means to exercise freedom of expression.
The advance in technology development, represented by the arrival of the
fiber optic cable from Venezuela to the island, has been overshadowed by
State Security's consideration of the "Network of Networks" as the new
"battlefield" and the official media's demonizing the use communication
equipment. Faced with these developments there is no doubt that the
future of the Internet in Cuba is uncertain.
April 26 2011
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