Can’t Blog Without a National ID

22Sep06

Well, you can’t use Internet without a national ID, not just can’t blog.

I don’t know since when because I’ve been using a dial up for almost 3 weeks now so it must have happened one day in the last 3 weeks.

I had to give my name, full name to the supervisor of this Internet cafe, I asked him why are you getting names of your custemers so he pointed out to a printed announcement on the wall behind him, it reads: “To abide by the instructions of the ministry of interior and the mayor, we will ask Internet users to show their national IDs.”

Interesting.

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7 Responses to “Can't Blog Without a National ID”


  1. Gravatar Icon 1 Iman Posted September 22nd, 2006 - 7:50 PM

    What if one doesn’t have a national ID, then what?

    Are customers just flashing their IDs or do they actually have to print their name on a ’sign-in’ sheet?

  2. 2 Qwaider قويدر Posted September 22nd, 2006 - 9:59 PM

    You know something? it was a common practice here in the US few years ago.
    As if, people can’t “fake” their IPs .. using the >1million open proxies on the Internet!
    wa 3agabi

  3. Gravatar Icon 3 Shaden Posted September 23rd, 2006 - 1:21 AM

    Iman, they didn’t ask for my ID but they asked for my full name to write it down on a users’ sheet.

    Qwaider, it’s very interesting. I don’t think it limits my freedom as an Internet user but maybe just not yet.

    BTW, it turned out that they have this law in Jordan since more than 2 years! I wonder why I haven’t seen it in my past visits to Internet cafes in both Amman and Irbid.

  4. Gravatar Icon 4 Nas Posted September 23rd, 2006 - 1:14 PM

    it’s either for short-term monitoring as the anniversary of 11/9 approaches, since there was one person arrested for threatening to blow something up a few weeks after it happened, in a posting from an internet cafe…

    or it’s for information gathering pertaining to such things as the census: i.e. how many people actually use the internet in the country, demographics, access, etc.

  5. Gravatar Icon 5 Dar Posted September 23rd, 2006 - 3:13 PM

    OMG that is not a good news ! that is stupid !!!!

    CheeerZ!

  6. 6 Qwaider قويدر Posted September 23rd, 2006 - 10:37 PM

    Nas, Or it’s pure Gestapo maneuvers used to intermediate the common Jordanian and sending a message, “we’ve got our eyes on you”

  7. Gravatar Icon 7 Nas Posted September 23rd, 2006 - 10:44 PM

    Q, doubtful considering there’s no internet regulation for over a decade now.

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"Can’t Blog Without a National ID" is filed under Jordan, Internet and Technology, Blogging and Arab World. It was published in September 2006.



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