Week of February 15

Myanmar (Burma)

Myanmar's first e-commerce payments platform seen to boost economy

Enterprise Innovation, 17 February 2015
"2C2P, a Southeast Asian payment services company, and Myanmar Payment Union (MPU), the national payment network of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, have developed and implemented Myanmar’s first electronic commerce payments platform. MPU card holders can now – for the first time – search, select and directly pay for online purchases. There are already some 900,000 MPU cards in Myanmar, a number that is increasing rapidly, in line with ongoing economic reforms. MPU authorizes the issuance and acceptance of all payment cards within the country."

Thailand

Thailand’s new cyber laws – Part 3: Far-reaching cyber snooping

Asian Correspondent, 20 February 2015
"In this part in our series examining the Thai military government’s new cyber laws, we look at the most controversial bill among the eight drafts: The Cyber Security Bill."

Thailand’s new cyber laws – Part 2: Changes to the Computer Crime Act

Asian Correspondent, 17 February 2015
"With the passing of eight new draft bills under the banner of “Digital Economy” by the Thai junta cabinet and awaiting approval by the ersatz-parliament, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), the main focus of criticism is aimed at the cyber security bill and the amendments to the 2007 Computer Crime Act (CCA). In this part, we take a look at the most crucial changes to the Computer Crime Act."

How Japan's Line App Became A Culture-Changing, Revenue-Generating Phenomenon

Fast Company, 19 February 2015
"Less than four years after Line’s launch, the company says that more than 560 million people worldwide have registered as members, the majority of them in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. One hundred eighty one million users log in to the Line app each month. While that’s a smaller user base than WhatsApp (700 million monthly active users according to research firm Canalys), Facebook Messenger (500 million), and Tencent’s WeChat (480 million), Line has done a remarkable job of turning its popularity into a growing, diversified business."

Thailand to boost Internet coverage to push up economic growth

Reuters, 17 February 2015
"Thailand's military government plans to spend an initial 3.7 billion baht ($114 million) to make Internet broadband available to most of the population as part of plans to boost the economy, a minister said on Tuesday. Greater use of the Internet and electronic commerce should help boost output at small companies and operators in the agriculture sector especially, Pornchai Rujiprapa, minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), told Reuters."

Vietnam

Three Vietnamese bloggers get jail terms for "abusing democratic freedoms"

IFEX, 20 February 2015
"This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 17 February 2015. Reporters Without Borders condemns the sentences ranging from 12 to 18 months in prison that a people's court in the southern province of Dong Nai imposed last week on three bloggers – Le Thi Phuong Anh, Do Nam Trung and Pham Minh Vu – under criminal code article 258, which penalizes "abusing democratic freedoms." The sentences, passed on 12 February, were clearly unjust and violated freedom of information and expression."

Elsewhere in Asia

Concerns Grow Over Hong Kong Censorship

VOA, 20 February 2015
"In Hong Kong, where last year’s pro-democracy protests ended in a stalemate with the Beijing-backed government, there are signs of increasing state censorship. A new report has found that Hong Kong police have requested more web posts to be taken down during the last four months than in the previous four years combined."

Dissenting voices silenced in Pakistan's war of the web

The Guardian, 18 February 2015
"Pakistan already goes further than most in digitally shielding its citizens from the outside world. There are only two countries where Facebook blocks more content at the request of their governments, and a YouTube ban imposed two years ago shows no sign of being lifted. That is not enough for some. In a country becoming ever more sensitive to perceived insults to Islam it is not just clerics and hard-right religious parties who want more control over the internet, but also a group of tech-savvy activists who have built their own alternative Facebook. “We are the largest Muslim social network in history,” said Omer Zaheer Meer."

Japan sees 25 billion cyber attacks in 2014: Government agency

Economic Times, 17 February 2015
"The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), which has a network of a quarter of a million sensors, said there were 25.66 billion attempts to compromise systems, according to a report by Kyodo News. The figure includes attacks aimed at testing the vulnerability of software used in servers."

Tighter online controls in China point to major crackdown

Japan Times (AP), 17 February 2015
"On the Internet, in college classrooms and in corporate offices, the Chinese Communist Party has raised the virtual wall separating the most populous country from the rest of the globe. Experts say it reflects a distrust of outside influences that the party thinks could threaten its control on society. Companies that have depended for years on virtual private networks, or VPNs, to get around Chinese online censors and access business tools have seen those channels squeezed or shut down since the start of the year."

India: Has world's biggest democracy got a Big Brother problem?

CNN, 16 February 2015
"Like many of his counterparts across the world, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to stand with France in the wake of the deadly attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. While most people in India were equally disgusted by the events in Paris, others felt it was preventable. Opposition National Congress Party lawmaker Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote an opinion piece claiming the magazine was "virtually inviting a reaction week after week." Kiran Bedi, a politician and former senior police officer, tweeted: "France Terror-Shoot-Out sends a message: why deliberately provoke or poke? Be respectful and civil. Don't hurt people's sensitivities!" But in a post on its Facebook page, the country's Aam Aadmi Party, or the "Common Man's Party" that just swept state elections in Delhi in an unprecedented victory, pointed to an issue much closer to home. "

Surge in web posts taken down by Hong Kong police sparks censorship fears

South China Morning Post, 15 February 2015
"A dramatic surge in the number of online posts destroyed by the Hong Kong police in recent months has fuelled fears of internet censorship and abuse of power. Figures released last week showed that the force "requested" the removal of more online content in the past four months than in the previous four years combined. The surge in figures coincided with the student-led Occupy Central movement, which typically used social media and online forums to organise events and demonstrations."