The controversial and conservative minister of communications and information technology, Tifatul Sembiring, has recently made his view about BlackBerry devices pretty clear. According to him, the popular devices aren’t smartphones, they’re smutphones — pocket-sized portals to porn, dangerous, deviant devices that routinely corrupt poor, unsuspecting Indonesians with a deluge of X-rated filth and indecency.
“The government is obliged to protect its citizens who use BlackBerry,” Tifatul said recently, referring to his campaign to get the Canadian-based maker of the devices, Research in Motion, to block all access to pornography on the smartphones in Indonesia or risk having its business license yanked. The company said it had put the filters in place as of Thursday.
While Tifatul’s campaign may have helped him make headlines, the fact is, even with the ban in place, people will still be able to find adult entertainment without much difficulty.
And while we don’t condone pornography, there can also be no doubt that, for better or worse, it will remain readily available to the public, with or without the help of a BlackBerry. Here’s why:
The Unblockable Internet Beast
The battle against Internet porn started a few months back, when the government attempted to block all pornographic Web sites in what proved to be a futile effort.
Proxies have been shown to easily bypass government filters, making the effort seem like a major waste of time and money.
Though a few proxy Web sites were themselves blacklisted, there are clearly far too many to be completely eradicated.
The other method for beating the system is to simply find one of the many Web sites not yet added to the government filters, of which there are plenty. It is also worth noting that many of the previously filtered Web sites are now freely accessible.
Image boards still let users post various verbal and visual messages, many of them pornographic, anonymously.
Some of the more popular image boards, such as Japanese-based 2chan, were also blocked a few months ago, but are completely accessible today.
Fajar Ai, a university student who frequents image boards looking for “cool” illustrations, pictures and “politically incorrect jokes,” says image boards provide safety because they host posts only for a short time, until they are replaced by newer posts.
“You can’t ban something, a link or a file, if it’s only up for a few minutes,” he said.
Downloading through community forums, both local and international, is also a common means of trading and acquiring materials of a dubious nature.
Though a few large local forums, such as Kaskus, have already banned the trade of pornographic materials, other still operate without much of a fuss.
Trading and acquiring files is still common through file-hosting Web sites such as Rapidshare and peer-to-peer networks that have existed for more than a decade.
These days, a more sophisticated form of peer-to peer sharing, known as “torrents,” is often used to trade large files.
The sheer volume of these Internet mainstays makes filtering attempts seem a bit ludicrous, if not utterly quixotic.
Many of these mediums cannot be totally blocked since, like BlackBerrys, they provide access to a wealth of important information – most of which is completely unrelated to nude, oiled-up bodies.
Porn on the Streets and in the Shops
Although raids on street stalls have become common throughout the city, DVD merchants continue to peddle their wanton wares by relying a little more heavily on guerilla tactics to evade officials.
Though not all DVD merchants sell pornographic films, there are a sizeable number who will happily oblige you with a hidden stash if asked.
One vendor in a trade center in Jakarta, who asked that his name not be used, said selling X-rated DVDs was easy.
Pointing to a clearly visible row of DVDs with provocative covers, he said selling soft-core DVDs — which are allowed — helped to draw people in and let them some something a little more raunchy was only a nod and a wink away.
“Soft-core is kind of like bait for guys who want X-rated films,” he said.
Noviar Akbar, who was looking through some soft-core DVDs, said purchasing porn was a breeze. “What do you mean difficulty?” he said. “X-rated DVDs are easy to buy, and they are everywhere.”
On-Demand Delivery of Adult DVDs
More than a few local Internet merchants sell their collections of X-rated films online without much hassle.
Denny, whose online “shop” (essentially a blog with a list of titles) said the process was simple.
“[Potential buyers] look at the DVD list on the Web site, then they e-mail or text us the order. No phone calls,” he said.
“After that, we send them our bank account information. When they’ve paid in full, including shipping costs, we send them their order.”
“Bob,” a 29-year-old graphic designer and adult DVD peddler, who did not want us to use his real name, said the business “is pretty rewarding financially, especially because there is no promotional cost. You just keep updating your titles on the [online] forums and Web site. You can also post ads for free on marketplace Web sites.”
So even without BlackBerry access to pornography, the routes to smut remain many.
But politicians will continue to say what they need to say, and people will continue to look for what they want to see. (Source: Jakarta Globe)
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