[Infowarrior] - N.Korea says South's Web ban violates freedom

[Richard Forno]

Oh, the irony..........rf

N.Korea says South's Web ban violates freedom
Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:40 AM ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2
007-01-26T154000Z_01_SEO147382_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-INTERNET.xml

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday the South Korean government was
violating the public's basic right to information by blocking access to Web
sites sympathetic to the North.

South Korea has denied access to more than 30 Web sites that it has
designated "pro-North Korea" since 2004, including the North's official KCNA
news agency's Web service and sites operated outside.

"This is a fascist action against democracy and human rights as it infringes
upon the South Koreans' freedom of speech and deprives them of even their
right to enjoy the civilization offered by the IT age," the North's official
Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

"The above-said actions are as rude as blindfolding people's eyes and
stopping their ears and mouths," Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary carried
by KCNA news agency.

The ban showed South Korea was against reconciliation with the North, the
newspaper said.

South Korea's unification ministry said earlier this month that it had no
plans to lift the ban.

Most North Koreans have limited or no access to computers let alone the
Internet, refugees from the North and human rights activists in Seoul have
said.

South Korea is one of the world's most wired countries. Three-quarters of
the population have access to the Internet.