...Now the prohibition comes from the other side, precisely on the part of those who built a program that helps us escape government control. “Windows Live Messenger IM has been disabled for users in countries embargoed by the United States,” reads the note that Microsoft published announcing the cut off. I feel with that once again we citizens lose out, because our government has its own channels for communicating with the rest of the world. This, clearly, is a blow to internet users, we outlaws of the web, which includes nearly everyone who accesses the Internet from Cuba. Surely at the company where my friend works the censor who monitors the connections must be delighted: Microsoft has just done his work for him.

My only desire to someone that says "Cuba may be quite lucky" for these woes is he to enjoy such a luck as soon as possible.

By the way, Generacion Y blog is available in several languages thanks to collaborators.

See "A messenger leaves" in

http://desdecuba.com/generationy/

Enjoy.

Hey "Foreigner"
Every country has some form of censorship, if it aint the Media Baron who is in bed with the Government or journolist writing to encourage page hits (the new enq etc), or Like Australia blocking web-sites.
Read up on Echelon (registered by IBM), is jointly operated by Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK and USA. It monitors telephone, fax, email, for key words. Each country has its own dictionary in each others country.
In many respects Cuba may be quite lucky. I remember when NZ and Aus only had a couple of TV channels - all the best programming was on them - now with multi-channel democracy its mostly rubbish.
The grass is always greener on the other side(?)

those commies are funny, without really trying to be-- they don't like it when they are prevented from doing what they do best, which is pulling the plug on stuff, like freedom, communication except theirs, etc-- and when they complain about their inability to do it, they are freaking hilarious!

As you can read (in Spanish) in Generacion Y blog (an awarded dissident blog), dissident bloggers are quite upset with this M$ move, that they say it helps the tyranny to limit their already difficult access to the free world.

They sometimes have to use methods like internet access in hotels or diskettes and SMSs sent to foreign collaborators to have their updates posted.

http://www.desdecuba.com/generaciony/?p=1220

Does someone have a schedule handy?

I've forgotten which state youth network's turn it is to be the one to make up a story that Cuba has WMDs.

Anybody seen Judith Miller hanging around the CNN?

And why is Farrell still using "Propaganda 101: When translating, choose incorrect words that make the enemy sound silly?" I thought it was banned after George Bush found "Homeland Security" in it and mistakenly used it to rename the CIA.

You all must know that Cuba's goverment is very very afraid of Internet as people could find all of the news, facts and everything they have been hiding so hard in the last 50 years. The same applies to cable and satellite TV. All of it breaks the censorship that keeps them in power, based on the lies, and half-baked news that only show the things they want and that's it.

Regarding to MSN, I have a very big grin as the service was blocked by that sh***ty goverment several years ago, including the access to Hotmail.com, followed by Yahoo mail & messenger. There is no surprise here, as they hate every single service they can't control. The international calls, for example, are very well known by its lack of privacy and spying/recording with no court order and so on....

Blaming the U.S by their Internet problems is plain BS. They already got the permission and denied it, saying that will use the cable from Venezuela instead. THEY ARE AFRAID OF FREEDOM.

Not that I know first hand, but the media grapevine did utter "There are detail plans floating on-line on how to build all kinds of WMD's"

Censorship, for it to have any real value would have to be extended in reducing the riches one can accumulate so one not be able to overthrow, harm or destroy any valued status-quo systems.

It just takes a box of Cuban cigar to:

Get the [USB] information across the border, build the weapons.

Use a lit cigar to launch it.

Then pass the rest around to your helpers and spies, laced with poison, to permanently keep them quiet.

I thank God everyday that I'm not a smoker! Smoking can kill in more ways than one.

Let them eat Pidgin...

Microsoft seems to be blamed for everything, even complying with export laws beyond its control that all US companies are bound by. Why don't those Cuban clowns place the blame on the real source of their problem?

It's not ironic that Skype isn't banned; Skype's not owned by a US company.