Comments on: NEWS & COMPETITION FOR PAKISTANI BLOGGERS – DBTB update

By: Omer

Omer — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:09:27 +0000

Adnan,
I do understand your point, and like I mentioned earlier there are no guarantees on any free blog site. Same applies to wordpress.

Buying your own domain, is I agree, a good solution. But keep in mind that even paid hosting site with your own domain can be blocked by authorities if they disagree with or dislike the content.

My point was that for those bloggers, who are not well informed in the technical management of blogs, and are finding it difficult to blog should consider launching another blog from a free hosting solution other than blogger. The point is to continue to blog rather than just give up and wait for someone to resolve the issue.

I hope you get my point. It is primarily to ensure that the Pakistani blogging voice does not die down.

No, blogspot is not blocked in the UAE. The reason why pkblogs shows up is because a lot of the Pakistani bloggers have altered their blogroll URL’s to incorporate pkblogs so that sites are viewable for the Pakistani audience.

Thank you for your comments – they are much appreciated. I think we both believe in free speech and that is what really matters.

By: Adnan Siddiqi

Adnan Siddiqi — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:16:56 +0000

dear omer, its not all about being a techie. wht if wordpress is also banned? IMO, the decent solution is that people start buying their own domains[like you did] so that they don’t face any kind of general ban in future.

p.s: I often check my stats and find dubai visitors also use pkblogs.com. Is it banned in Middle east as well?

By: Asad

Asad — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:17:40 +0000

If anyone wants to blog but not on the blogspot site, I am looking for people to join the blogging team on my site. If someone is interested, just contact me and we can discuss blogging topics of mutual interest:

http://www.asadasif.com/index.php?memberid=1

This, in my opinion, is the way I can contribute to the blogging community of Pakistan. I request others to do so too.

By: Jaded

Jaded — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:15:37 +0000

Even for somebody who has been made aware of the exhibitionist thrill of putting my words on the web, the high just keeps getting lower with all the issues that keep cropping up. Although switching blog sites is a solution for the moment, the sword of a potential ban or censor is ever present.

Maybe by continuing to write and having even a single person read us we can be part of a generation that did more than just talk or think about an issue. Besides imagine having my veddy own blog space to have, hold and misuse to my heart’s content and knowing that i am brainwashing so many across the world and turning them into my mindless minions… uh… hmmmmm…

By: sabizak

sabizak — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:19:27 +0000

This whole blogspot thing has been really distressing, i am certainly one of those bloggers who have lost the urge to blog on Blogger because people in Pakistan cannot access it and comment. Really wish the Government that is forever paying lip service to the freedom of media in the country would reassess this whole situation.

This RSF idea is an interesting incentive for Pakistani bloggers and should help bring this issue more into the limelight.

By: the olive ream

the olive ream — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:09:21 +0000

@Adnan,
it IS a solution for bloggers who have been struggling to access their blog panel and blogspot and can’t. Please realise not all bloggers are tech-savvy and can source work-arounds. I know of several blogspot bloggers who are fed up with the inaccess and have planned to stop blogging all together. This IS a solution for them (for now). I also mentioned that there are no guarantees with any of the free blog hosting sites…but wordpress currently functions and services blogger better than blogspot.

@Asad,
you are right individual blogsites would work better. Obviously, paid hosting of block would guarantee access to your blog. And unique domain addresses would obviously not fit under the umbrella of the blogspot ban.

By: Asad

Asad — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:30:40 +0000

I believe the only solution is to set up individual blog sites each having a small dedicated group of posters.

Hence, there will be too many sites to block and that isn’t feasible for PTA.

By: Adnan Siddiqi

Adnan Siddiqi — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:56:22 +0000

IMHO, this is not a solution to keep switching blogs. What would a wordpewss user do if even wordpress is blocked as well or a personal domain? I personally will try my best to stay with blogger.