TitS: A Fan of Gandhi...

There is always something to be said about "practice what you preach" or "do as I say and not as I do". Perhaps, good ol' Tifatul Sembiring (aka TitS) should have taken his own advice by way of Gandhi instead of taking to Twitter and other social networking mediums as a means of defending his actions post that fateful Michelle Obama handshake incident.

Therefore, it was with interest that I read this TitS tweet as it entered my Twitter-sphere.

Maybe TitS should take a whole lot more time in conquering his enemies with love rather than trying to ban things that are almost impossible to ban, like porn for instance. Time to show a little love, TitS...If I am not mistaken, Vicky Vette would be happy to receive a little of that love!

So, does quoting Gandhi, a devout Hindhu, amount to an exhibition of religious tolerance?

TitS Spawns a Copy Cat...

I am not sure that "spawn" is the right word. Spawn and TitS (aka Tifatul Sembiring) in the same sentence just doesn't seem right.

Anyways, it seems that the G20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea, has found the time to have a dig at the Indonesian Minister for [Mis]Communication and [Mis]Information.

Thanks to Rima for pointing me in the direction of this Twit Pic.

Tifatul Sembiring on the Colbert Report...

It would seem that Tifatul Sembiring (aka TitS) has gone global in ways that he would never have imagined he would. What is perversely funny about this whole affair is that it is nothing more than a handshake that did it.

The man is an embarrassment.

Nuf said!

Vicky Vette & TitS...

It would seem Tifatul Sembiring (aka TitS) has gone global. He is no longer just an Indonesia joke but a joke on a worldwide scale. Impressive!

This whole handshake affair could have been nipped in the bud by TitS by simply fessing up that he touched her hand and it was what it was; a handshake in the course of greeting a foreign dignitary.

Instead, TitS has taken to Twitter to say that he was forced to shake the First Lady's hand against his better judgment and wishes. It is one thing to be pious and take your beliefs seriously. It is a complete other thing to be caught out using religion and your beliefs to crassly advance your own political ambitions. As it is, the video of the incident seems to suggest otherwise on how the handshake went down.

However, it would seem that there are plenty of women out there who would now like to have the opportunity to press the flesh, so to speak, with the Indonesian Minister for [Mis]Communication and [Mis]Information. Among the more notable flesh pressers is the irrepressible Vicky Vette. Ms. Vette is better known for her international work as a porn star with ample proportions.

Here is a copy of the tweet that she sent to TitS. Do you think the "pubic" part is a Freudian slip?

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of Vicky Vette in all her glory...

Tifatul Sembiring -- The Minister for Hypocrisy & Stupidity...

The litany of stupidity that continues to encircle the Minister for [Mis]Communication and [Lack of] Information is sort of like slowing down to watch a car crash. However, when it comes to Tifatul Sembiring (aka TitS) it is all self-imposed. The man is a hypocrite who has used religion, Islam, to create an image of piety for himself.

Yet, the latest series of events shows the man to be a fraud who is prepared to go to any lengths to cultivate an image. For a man who is supposed to have his finger on the pulse of communication and information, and particularly the technology that supports that, he has been found wanting yet again.

The "event" in question is the shaking of Michelle Obama's hand. The First Lady and the President were going through the formalities of meeting dignitaries, including Indonesian Ministers. Now, in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with men shaking hands with women. However, TitS has cultivated an image that being a pious Muslim he will not under any circumstances touch a woman to whom he is not related to. And, this is where the fun and games begin.

During the formal "meet and greet" TitS shakes hands with Michelle Obama. By my reckoning, the man would have to go a long way back in his family tree to find a familial relationship with the Obamas. Maybe all the way back to Adam and Eve. The handshake immediately piqued the attention of plenty of people who know TitS and his medieval stance on women and their relationship with men. It was hypocrisy of the highest order. It is hypocrisy that must go to the very core of his being as it exposes that his piety was a fraud perpetrated against all those who believed in what he was saying as a member of the PKS (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera).

On realising that the technology that he has been trying to shut down to all intents and purposes had caught him out, he took to social networking, Twitter in particular, to state his innocence. His innocence claim is that he was forced to shake hands with the First Lady. According to TitS, the First Lady thrust her hand out at him and kept on thrusting it towards him. This left the poor man with no option but to lightly touch her hand.

Now, have a look at the video. Too bad it has not gone viral, it should. There is no hesitation on the part of the Minister and this was not some ever-so brief touch of hands. It was a handshake.

I wonder if the Minister immediately scarpered out of the room, washed his hand with acid to get the germs of the imperialist woman of the west from him, and then proceeded to the nearest Mosque to ask for forgiveness of his God for touching a woman he is not related to. The flip side of that coin is that he immediately scarpered, flogged himself stupid and then called his mates to tell them that he had bedded the First Lady.

TitS as the Minister for Banning Porn, even you should know the difference between a good story and a wank!

TitS and the Porn Star Phenomenon...

Poor old Tifatul Sembiring (AKA "TitS" for those of you who are yet to read my earlier posts on the man and his mission) has a problem with porn stars! I am not sure that the preceding statement needs any further clarification. Nevertheless, it is going to get one. It seems TitS has determined that hiring foreign porn stars to star in local horror movies is just another way that local film producers are going about poking fun at the moral standards held dear by Indonesians. The other problem that TitS seemingly has is that hiring international porn stars undermines his anti-porn message.

The recently released film "The Moans of a Virgin Ghost" (Rintihan Kuntilanak Perawan) which starred the [in]famous porn star Tera Patrick and the less famous Indonesian [porn star] wannabes of Catherine Wilson and Angelique came in for special mention by the poorly-performing Minister of Communication and Information.

The Minister has taken this film, and the bringing in of Tera Patrick to star in the film, way to personally. It really is not an attempt to either mock the Minister or to mock Indonesia's anti-pornography laws. According to TitS, Tera Patrick "personifies the resistance to morality". Nice call, Minister. So, self-confessed polygamists are not a moral challenge to the Indonesian community? Violence against women and children can take many forms. If one is going to campaign against moral evil, then it makes sense to line up all the morally reprehensible and deal with them all at once.

The exploitation of porn stars in non-porn roles, particularly big-name foreign porn stars such as Patrick, Miyabi (Maria Ozawa) and Rin Sakuragi is nothing more that smart marketing designed to generate as much cheap advertising as they can by orchestrating controversy. What is really sad is that the Minister and the FPI, among others, continue to fall for this viral marketing strategy.

But, thanks TitS, this would seem like a most gratuitous time to post more pictures of Tera Patrick in "all" her glory!

She must be wearing a different cut of swimmers to what she normally wears...

Tifatul Sembiring -- The Minister for Stupidity & Nonsense...

There is nothing funny about HIV / AIDS and there is nothing funny about Tifatul Sembiring (aka TitS). It would seem that TitS via his Twitter account (@tifsembiring) thought that a joke through a play on the letters of AIDS would be something amusing to send to all his Twitter followers.

Now, AIDS for just about everyone else stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. But, for @tifsembiring it stands for, in Indonesian, Akibat Itunya Ditaruh Sembarangan, which in English means in essence "caused by the reckless putting of one's penis" presumably into places where penis' should not be.

This sort of reminds me of a time way back when, perhaps in the mid to late 1980s, a time when I was just a youngster, and when AIDS was still very much considered "a gay disease". The "joke" then was Anally Injected Death Sentence which was neither funny nor representative of what sort of tragedy was to unfold on a much broader scale, and a tragedy that continues to unfold on a large scale even today in places like Africa.

TitS tweet is offensive, but then it is hardly surprising as he is an offensive man. He is very much a sufferer of PKS or Perennial Klown Syndrome. But, when it is all said and done, his tweet proves that old cliche, "if you have nothing positive to say then perhaps it is better not to say anything at all." Or that other classic, "it is better to be thought of as a fool for five minutes rather than open your mouth and confirm it for a lifetime."

It is pretty sad that the Minister for Communication and Information knows diddly about both the primary elements of his brief. If he was in command of the elements then he would have known that there was no other possible outcome from putting a tweet out there like this than bad.

The Minister needs to exhibit a little class, and show a little remorse for making a joke of, and mocking those that are suffering with HIV / AIDS. Perhaps he could impose some community service hours on himself and go and work at a HIV / AIDS charity doing good work in Indonesia. I would highly recommend Yayasan Spiritia, they are doing good work. Perhaps, the Minister would learn a thing or two about some of the challenges that people living with HIV / AIDS face every single day in Indonesia, like struggling to be able to get a regular supply of affordable medications or simple discrimination.

The real question is whether the Minister has the testicular fortitude to man-up and admit that his joke was not a joke but rather it was nothing more than a chance for him to offend and pretend that it was all fun and games. My guess is the Minister will not be able to escape from his Perennial Klown Syndrome woes and try and redeem himself on Twitter while holding out hope that others will come to his rescue with piss poor support like, "lighten-up it was just a joke".

As I said, and many others will continue to say, there is nothing funny about HIV / AIDS.

Postscript:
The support for TitS can be found in some of the comments in response to the article at The Jakarta Post. It would seem that the claim is that the offending tweet is part of a much longer logical sequence that makes the tweet less offensive. The tweet is not TitS' personal belief but rather just a comment on, and relaying of, something said by a former Health Minister of Indonesia (Professor Sujudi).

However, it probably is worth pointing out that the series of tweets, to which the supportive commenter refers to, has a very distinct homophobic viewpoint suggesting that HIV /AIDS is a "gay" disease and represents God's choice of raining down destruction and death on those that practice "deviant" behaviours. The postscript was added about 40 minutes after the original post.

Disclaimer: Oh, and if anyone picked up on the PKS theme relating to the TitS...no offense is intended to any other organisation or group that uses the same letters to represent themselves. If you look at the accompanying photo you can see that the Minister has in fact got the "Krusty the Klown" (from "the Simpsons") thing happening.

Indonesian Porn Reporters -- Rewarded

There is nothing quite like getting the public involved in your own personal porn crusade. The Minister for Communication and Information, Tifatul Sembiring (aka TitS), has decided that the best way of ratcheting up his porn eradication scheme is to enlist the public and to reward them for their participation as social media experts.

The scheme seems simple enough; the public report to the Ministry any porn site that they know of and receive a reward from the Ministry. Any prospective reward hunters can contact the Ministry of (+62 21) 3899-7800 or at aduankonten@depkominfo.go.id. But you can only call between 09.00 and 14.00.

Nah, this is where it gets a little problematic by my reckoning. The Ministry has not exactly said how it plans to reward the porn finders, specifically it has not said whether this is a cash-based incentive scheme or perhaps something a little more sinister, like jail time.

When it is all said and done, how do you report a pornographic internet site if you have not had a sneak peak to check out whether the content is actually pornographic or not. I can see a lot of emails starting off "Well, a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of mine told me about www.xxx. blah, blah, blah dot com."

I am not in Indonesia, so I cannot rightly say, but according to TitS, but Indonesia has supposedly blocked 90% of the internet pornographic sites that were once available to Indonesians. Nevertheless, I am sure some of my Indonesian based commenters might be able to enlighten us on the true state of play. But, to be honest, if 90% of internet porn sights are already cactus with respect to access from Indonesia, then the reporting role of the public really is nothing more than tidying up a few loose ends to get it up to 100%.

Personally, I think TitS is kidding himself on the block rates, but hey to each their own.

No Ban on BlackBerry in Indonesia?

The Ministry of Communication and Information through its spokesperson, Gatot Dewa Broto, stated that there was no plan to ban BlackBerry or its services in Indonesia.

The push from the Ministry is to only get BlackBerry to open a "data center" in Indonesia so that data did not have to be routed through Canada. The rationale here is that this would lower costs for Indonesian consumers and speed up services because data would presumably not have so far to travel to be processed.

I am not techno wizard, but that sounds like waffle to me, particularly in this age of instantaneous technology.

According to the Ministry, there is no urgency to close off the services. So, this must mean that Indonesia does not hold the same national security concerns that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, going on past form, it would seem likely that the Government of Indonesia is prepared to threaten to block BlackBerry imports if it does not get its way with a service center. So, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Minister TitS and his Ministry will back flip on this and seek to restrict or ban services.

The other possibility here is that the MUI steps in and issues a fatwa prohibiting Muslims from using BlackBerry smartphones because the phones are deemed to be haram in Islam. And, as one of my commenters to a previous post pointed out, the MUI is prepared to consider anything once a request has been made of it. Perhaps Minister TitS could ask the MUI what they think of the current shenanigans.

Time will tell. But, it would not be the first time the Indonesian government has reversed a previously stated position (Indonesia is not alone in the reversing of positions, I have recently been watching a retrospective on recent Australian government reversals on all manner of things - climate change for example).

I am no longer in Indonesia and I am not a BlackBerry owner. However, the associated privacy issues are interesting.

Ho hum...

Oh Dear, Mr. Sembiring Are You Serious?

It is a real shame that this man's name is not Titaful instead of Tifatul. This is particularly so considering the Minister of Communication and Information's fascination with banning pornography in Indonesia. But, never mind Indonesians regularly shorten their names, so from now on Mr. Tifatul Sembiring has the moniker "Tits", which is fair enough as all the letters are in his name and appear in that order...

Now, Tits has declared that he is a man on a mission, presumably from God, to ensure that all porn sites originating in Indonesia are shut down and all porn sites hosted overseas are blocked by Indonesian filtering technology before reaching screens in Indonesia. The plan calls for all these sites to be history before the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan as many of us are all to aware is a month where Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and other earthly pleasures during daylight hours.

While most people are thinking that the porn ban that Tits has in mind will only effect images, and that this is not such a bad thing, they are sadly mistaken. If Tits gets his way, then even sentences will be classified and if deemed to be too rude then they will be labelled porn and prohibited. Yes folks, Indonesia is back on the path to burning books and treating its adult population like naughty children who do not know what's best for themselves. Tits is looking at getting this banning and burning thing done on a "massive" scale. It reminds me of a picture I once saw about social media 'experts'. I attach it for your viewing pleasure.

Personally, to each their own on the porn front. I have no problem with making porn more difficult to access, especially the idea of making it as difficult as possible for children to access. I have no problem with prohibiting kiddie porn. Our children need protection from this sort of material, whether that be protection in the form of ensuring they do not become the subjects of child porn or being prevented from seeing what is already out there. However, I cannot see why the government needs to regulate whether two consenting adults enjoy looking at pictures of each other in the nude.

In any event, if Tits is thinking that he is going to be successful in protecting people from themselves then he is going to be in for a rude awakening. The blanket ban, which "massive" suggests will not work. The idea that it will presupposes that purveyors of pornography are stupid and technologically incapable of adapting. This is clearly not the case.

The porn industry is not one that is about just tens of thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, nor millions of dollars. The porn industry is a multi-billion dollar gig. The reality is that where there is a will there is a way...it is the chicken and the egg theory, or perhaps it is even simple supply and demand theory. People want porn, so other people produce it. Indonesians want porn, so somebody somewhere is going to be producing it and Indonesians are going to work out a way to get access to it.

So, Tits it is time you focused your energies on other more important issues in your portfolio. Quite simply, the big red mark you have against your name with respect to your ministerial performance to date has nothing to do with your failures relating to porn. Time to stop trying to deflect attention from your shortcomings by playing the porn card. It is time to get on with doing your job.

Maybe, this poster is something the good minister might want to consider when working out how successful this plan of his might be.

Happy fasting to you Tits!

Fatma, Trans TV, Sex Tapes, Porn, and Defamation -- Legal Issues...

A private Indonesian television station, Trans TV, is pondering the possibility of a criminal defamation action over a sex tape posted on the internet and alleged to be of a Trans TV employee by the name of Fatma.

According to Trans TV they have an employee by the name of Fatma but the video is clearly not of her. The sex tape in question provides a pretty clear shot of "Fatma" so a simple photo comparison might be enough to prove this one way or the other.

I have written elsewhere on this here blog of mine about criminal defamation in Indonesia and the pros and cons of such laws. It is interesting that Trans TV thinks that there is something actionable here in the first place. But, the complaint seems to be based entirely on the belief that an employee sex tape scandal harms the image of the company. Maybe it would, then again, maybe it would enhance it.

I cannot speculate on the reasons for giving the video the title of "Fatma - Trans TV", but if I was to speculate then it would probably be because Indonesians love a good scandal and a TV employee on a sex tape would be good fodder for gossip shows, gossip magazines, and even the rival TV stations.

The funny part of this, if there is a funny part, is that Trans TV has in fact admitted to being in breach of the law, the Anti-Porn law to be precise. The quote from Trans TV via their spokesperson, Hardiansyah reads as follows:

“Our own investigation shows that the video was taken from a porn site and the perpetrator changed the title to ‘Fatma-Transtv’”

The Trans TV investigation revealed that the tape lasts for 2 minutes and 34 seconds, was originally taken on a mobile phone, and was produced on 3 March 2007.

So, this investigation and knowledge that the original video has been taken from a porn site was done by Trans TV. So, does this mean that Trans TV has been accessing internet porn and downloading it in Indonesia? And, then heavens forbid, viewing it in Indonesia? The Minister of Communication and Information is going to be horrified!

I might follow this case as it develops, if it develops, because it will be interesting to see where Trans TV takes their criminal defamation complaint. I will also need to do a little more reading and research. This will not necessarily involve watching Fatma in action, but I have note read anything about who uploaded it, whether it was uploaded in Indonesia or overseas, or who Trans TV is thinking they are going to make the subject of the complaint.

There has certainly been a lot of porn coming out of Indonesia of late. Perhaps Ariel, Luna Maya, and Cut Tari were just the tip of a porn iceberg that is about to come into full view.

Porn Access to be Denied -- Indonesia...

Being one of your country's worst performing cabinet ministers in a cabinet that has supposedly been selected based on its professionalism and professional experience in the real world must be a kick in the teeth for a proud man. This is especially so when you get a fairly public rebuke from the president and his advisers. So, how does one turn it around in the world's most populous Muslim nation, play the porn card.

In a country that is in the grips of celebrity sex tape euphoria that is keeping the presses and gossip show running hot, it is little surprise that the Minister for Communication and Information, Tifatul Sembiring, has decided to publicly announce that Indonesia will be in essence porn site free within two months. Yes, purveyors and lovers of porn, your producing and viewing days are numbered now that the Minister has set the date.

The plan is to use a filter that blocks all international porn sites at the ISP level. In essence, there is a blacklist that ISPs are to maintain and use in order to filter out objectionable content. It is not entirely clear that Indonesia or the ISPs themselves have the technology in place to effectively enforce the ban, but time will tell. The plan for local porn content is to shut it down permanently.

A major concern is what constitutes pornography and how do sites end up on the blacklist, particularly the subjective nature of the listers could ensure that there might not be any, or sufficient, consideration given to whether the sites have educational value or otherwise. The decision will simply be based on whether the rude bits are showing or being spoken of, if they are then you are on the list.

The reality is that internet users are quite often as savvy, if not more savvy, than those tasked with enforcing the ban. For example, many sites will just migrate to different sites or use revolving addresses that make it difficult to consistently block them. Then, I am no expert, but there will surely be proxy servers and other mechanisms in place that allow for the filters to be bypassed.

I am not advocating pornography or access to it. However, to each their own. I am for putting in place mechanisms and technology that allows us to protect our children as much as possible. In most places these already exist in the form of parental controls and locks on computer systems. Yet, I am tech savvy enough to realise that when the time comes my son will probably be much more tech savvy than I, and consequently will be able to circumvent any controls his mum or I might try and put into place. Yet, we will still try.

The point I am trying to make here is that it is not a perfect world and laws to ban pornography across the board do not and will not work. The idea of banning all pornographic websites is also likely to be ineffective in the long term.

Truth be told, Tifatul Sembiring is a poorly performing Minister and he is seeking to deflect attention from his numerous and consistent failures by playing the porn card. I would say this is a high risk play on his part because he is unlikely to be the man who convinces Indonesians that porn is bad, porn is evil, and porn is against the law. He is likely to perform poorly on this one as well.

Luna Maya Returns to Twitter...

What is it with this grabbing the dog from behind picture. Everywhere one goes looking for a Luna Maya picture, this is one of the first ones to appear...





Luna Maya (@lunmay) has returned to the Twittering fold and reactivated her account on the microblogging site. I guess this means you cannot keep a good woman down, even if you lodge a criminal defamation complaint against her?

The Luna Maya fiasco erupted when some infotainment journalists became a little over-zealous in their pursuit of the interview and photo that we mere mortals crave in our daily celebrity fix. During the ensuing free-for-all Ariel's (the boyfriend of LM) little girl was clocked in the head with a camera or something. This led to the famous tweet comparing infotainment journalists to prostitutes and murderers. Subsequently, the Luna Maya Twitter account disappeared after a short apology was posted.

But, it is back! There have been no new tweets apparently. Apparently is because I do not tweet or twitter and I am going on what others have said. Ah, the beauty of second hand information.

What is interesting is that the Minister of Communication and Information, Tifatul Sembiring, has come out and said that the Information and Electronic Transactions Law that the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) is using as the basis of its criminal defamation claim was not drafted not designed for this sort of criminal defamation action.

According to Sembiring, the ITE Law was drafted and is designed to prevent computer related crimes such as credit card fraud and hacking., That said, it would seem that Article 27 also seems to open the door for arguments that the ITE Law also conceives that criminal defamation might also be a crime within the scope of the law.

As usual, a Luna Maya post lends itself to some gratuitous picture posting.

Roy Suryo...

Perhaps it is only fair to give the man his full title, Kanjeng Raden Mas Temenggung Roy Suryo Notodiprojo or KRMT Roy Suryo. After all, if you have a royal sounding title you have probably earned it. Roy Suryo, as he is known to his mates, is a self-proclaimed and self-taught expert on telematics. If you do not believe him, then you should just ask him.

The man is never short of a comment, and funnily enough is pretty regularly called in to pass expert commentary. Some of his better performances have been to equate bloggers and hackers as being one of the same. As a witness for the prosecution in the ongoing Prita Mulyasari dispute he offered up in his expert testimony, allegedly, that Prita intended to distribute the email because she sent it to all her friends, and did not CC or BCC the email. Therefore, this was sufficient to prove that the intent to defame had been made out.

He is close to the President, and has in fact speared the president and the president's party for large sums of cash to set up a website.

But, even more interesting is that this fellow is the master manipulator and promoter of an image, his own. So, the idea that he was seriously being considered for the position of Minister of Communication and Information should be taken with a grain of salt. It would have been a bad choice because he would have come to the position with a good number of Indonesian citizens questioning his expertise, his skills, and his ability to perform the role.

However, for his part, Roy Suryo contacted the press to let them know that he was OK with the president's choice not to appoint him to the ministerial role. Yet, at the same time as saying that he understood the president's choice, he was going on the offensive and after the person that is expected to get the nod for the ministerial slot, Tifatul Sembiring.

Sembiring has been outed as a polygamist. Although, polygamy is discouraged, it is not illegal. Provided that it is done in a manner that conforms to the prevailing laws and regulations then it is legal. Nevertheless, Roy took the opportunity to openly question whether Sembiring's polygamy would impact on his ability to do his job as the Minister of Communication and Information. I would have figured that communication and information would have had to be something that Sembiring was good at with two wives.

Seriously though, here is a fella that cannot distinguish between bloggers and hackers wondering out loud whether polygamy is going to be a hindrance to Sembiring in doing his job. Seems a little on the rich side for me.

It is worth noting that in all the high profile cases of late that Roy Suryo has appeared for the prosecution, there has been a vigorous defense put on highlighting the fact that Roy Suryo's standards as a telematic expert or in the field of digital forensic science are lacking. This is particular so in the case of Ananda Mikola and Marcella Zalianty.

I am not an expert on telematics or technology in a general sense. However, I would be concerned if I was an Indonesian and the idea of making this bloke the minister was in fact real. He really has not shown over the years to be up to the job.

That is not to say that Sembiring has shown himself to be up to the job either. But, his practice of polygamy is not a key indicator in his job performance or ability to do the job, is it?

IKRAP and KRAP -- I Kid You Not!

A serious version of this is available at http://en.hukumonline.com. However, the acronyms / abbreviations used in this regulation were worth writing about by themselves irrespective of whether the substance of the regulation was serious or not.

It is obvious one of two things happened during the drafting phase of this particular Minister of Communication and Information regulation; the drafters really did not consider the humor that a bilingual Indonesian / English speaker would derive from the acronyms or the drafter was aware, and decided to do it anyway.

I am going to lean towards the latter, as that shows a fine sense of humour on the part of the drafters of this regulation.

What appears below is an amended version of what was posted to hukumonline.


Radio communication between citizens or CB Radio (Citizen Band Radio) finds its regulatory basis in Government Regulation No. 52 of 2000 and Minister of Communication Decision No. 77 of 2003. However, with the issue of Government Regulation No. 38 of 2007 there is a need to revoke and replace Decision No. 77. Therefore, the Minister of Communication and Information has issued Regulation No. 34/PER/M.KOMINFO/8/2009 for this purpose.

Citizen Band Radio (Komunikasi Radio Antar Penduduk / KRAP) is specifically prohibited from broadcasting certain material and from being commercialized. However, in contrast, CB radio must broadcast material relating to danger, natural disasters, and the like when those events arise. So, CB radio stations are therefore by law required to broadcast all the "Oh Krap" news and information; 'Oh crap, here comes the flood waters!"

The CB radio frequencies are those frequencies that have been set up and confirmed by the Minister. The frequency band set aside for CB radio is between 26.960 MHz and 27.410 MHz on the High Frequency Band. This is then divided into 40 distinct canals. These are listed in Article 18. The succeeding articles through to Article 23 set out the technical specifications.

All users of CB radios are required to be licensed (Izin Komunikasi Radio Antar Penduduk / IKRAP), and these licenses are to be issued by the Director General. The license is valid for a period of five years and can be renewed. The license permits the license-holder to own more than one set of CB radio equipment. Nevertheless, any person holding IKRAP is permitted only one call sign.

Which has me wondering whether if IKRAP in Jakarta whether my KRAP is going to be the same if IKRAP in Aceh or Bali? So, I wonder whether it is right to say that, 'no matter where IKRAP it is always the same'.

However, holding a license is not sufficient if one wants to be a CB radio user. In fact, the regulation is explicit that all license holders are required to become a member of an organization. The organization is Radio Antar Penduduk Indonesia (RAPI).

Each province in Indonesia is to use its own specific code. These codes are set out in Article 8(6) of the regulation. The procedures for licensing are listed in the regulation. Generally, there are three types covered: New IKRAP, IKRAP Renewal, and an IKRAP extension. The requirements for each are slightly different and are listed in Articles 12, 13, and 14.

The regulation sets out administrative sanctions that allow the Director General to cancel a license. A breach first requires two written warnings and a third warning results in the cancellation of a license. The Director General also has the power to cancel a license if the holder of that license has been convicted of a crime and the decision regarding that crime is already final and binding.

It would seem that the Director General has the power to control if, when, and where IKRAP by requiring me to have a license to KRAP which can be taken away if I KRAP in the wrong way or break the rules.

The regulation also includes a list of Attachments that contain all the standard forms required to comply with the provisions of the regulation. The Attachments also include a sample copy of what a CB radio license is to look like.

So, don't forget to smile for your very own IKRAP identity card.

By the way, anyone looking at getting into the KRAP-ping game, the requirement to hold a license under these provisions has been in force since 31 August 2009.

Minister of Communication and Information, Fitna, and Circulars

A rather innocuous looking letter from the Minister of Communications and Information regarding the blocking of sites and blogs that host and show the film produced by Geert Wilders, Fitna, is a letter that has serious consequences for those of us that use the Internet as a means of communication.

The letter itself is based on Article 21 of the Telecommunications Law (No. 36 of 1999) which prohibits the broadcasting of material that impacts negatively on relations between religions and harmony (in the public order sense). Article 21 permits the government to suspend telecommunication providers activities if they broadcast, or continue broadcasting, after being informed that certain material is objectionable.

The Telecommunications Law itself does not explicitly state how the government is to do this and whether a Circular is within the scope of the provision. There is probably a sustainable argument that Circulars in the legislation sense are not binding or would require other legislative instruments to give full force and effect to the intent of the Circular. The cynics among us might just view this as appeasement of those clamouring for Fitna to be banned and for Wilders to be punished for his alleged blasphemy.

This letter was not issued based on any of the provisions of the recently passed Information and Electronic Transactions Bill.

It is beyond the scope of this post to debate the merits or lack thereof of Fitna. However, the Minister of Communication and Information has established a precedent of how it intends to respond to objectionable material, and that is to restrict it as far as possible.

Unfortunately, it seems that some Internet providers and network access points have decided to completely block access to certain sites. Some has gone as far as to completely block access to You Tube, My Space, Meta Café, Rapidshare, and other sites in order to comply with the Minister’s letter. This seems a little extreme as by completely blocking access to a site means that ‘all” the material is prohibited from entering Indonesia and this is clearly not the intent of the original instruction from the Minister.

It seems that businesses have decided that there is less impact on their bottom lines by blocking the whole rather than putting in place a filter that potentially could slow down their system functions and capabilities.

The other consideration is that those with a real interest in the film have already downloaded it and could conceivably host it locally or attach it to a mass email in order to distribute it. The letter and response from a number of telecommunications companies highlights the difficulties that the government and providers will encounter in selective blocking of sites and material.

For subscribers of providers that have blocked access completely to certain sites it is unclear what recourse they might be able to follow in order to restore partial access to material that has no relationship to the banned film.

This may not be enough to stir serious debate on future censorship of the Internet in Indonesia but it is certainly food for thought for those businesses that conduct or rely heavily on the Internet in the performance of their respective businesses.

The letter was issued on 2 April 2008.

As a postscript to this issue.

The government has already backed down with regards to the generalized blocking of sites. However, it would seem that some providers are still trying to work out ways in which to block material. I know from personal experience that Telkom speedy has been tinkering with its services as I am periodically blacked out from blogspot.com. However, the last few days the tinkering has resulted in not much more than overall bad service as Friday and Saturday have seen sporadic connectability!