Islamabad, May 21 (ANI): Pakistan’s blockage on wildly popular web-sites like YouTube and Facebook will likely have a reverse effect from the one desired by authorities as curious Netizens would log onto these sites to see what the brouhaha is about.
Pakistan’s telecom regulatory body, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said it found ‘sacrilegious’ content on YouTube, leading them to block it. Incidentally, YouTube has been co-founded by Jawed Karim, a Muslim.
“We have asked the Internet service providers to block more than 450 web links, which contain derogatory material,” The News quoted a PTA spokesman, as saying.
“The action follows our repeated attempts to convince these websites to discard such material,” he added.
He said the PTA had approached the administrators of the websites through emails, however he could not name the officials who had been contacted.
Industry officials, on the other hand, say the authorities have yet to get in touch with the people who run Facebook and YouTube, the report said.
These hasty suppressive tactics are probably not going to be too fruitful, according to industry officials.
“There is no way of stopping this. The day government lifts restriction from these websites, the Internet traffic will double. People will visit them just out of curiosity,” said an advertiser, who deals with Facebook and YouTube. (ANI)
IPL only heading north in popularity stakes
London, May 29 (ANI): The second version of the Indian Premier League, which was played recently in South Africa, has only confirmed one thing – that the shortest version of game cricket is headed northwards in the popularity stakes.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the result in South Africa was better than expected in terms of match attendance.
Last year’s tournament was the most watched event on television in India, and there was bound to be second-year blues as the curiosity faded and largely mainstream cricket fans made up the dedicated audience.
Purists continue to criticise the tournament as “crickertainment”, more concerned with keeping crowds occupied than on the contest at hand.
But Twenty20 chugged past those quibblers many sixes ago, and the hot tip is that tournament supremo Lalit Modi has ambitions to take his baby to the United States – the last bastion of unconquered television rights for cricket, a potential goldmine.
With a large population of expat Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans residing along the East Coast, it’s no wonder American businessmen are already devising plans to set up their own T20 leagues, like Allen Stanford – albeit with less legal furore surrounding business operation.
But the IPL must return to India next year, where the care factor is incredible and the multimillionaire moguls behind each franchise reap most benefit.
Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola said the success of IPL two had proved one thing – traditional cricket must become more attractive if it is to survive.
“Properly handled, the IPL concept will bring about the real globalisation of the sport for the first time,” he said.
South African cricket commentator Neil Manthorp determined that for many obvious faults, IPL two had opened the door for his own country to capitalise on T20′s potential.
“If the ability to market a sports tournament is usually a science, then the IPL and its South African partners raised it to art,” Manthorp wrote on website Supersport. (ANI)