Speaking at a press conference organized by Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) on Tuesday, ISPAN officials said the government approach of troubling internet service providers (ISPs) without looking into the involvement of telecom service providers was discriminatory. [break]
ISPAN President Binay Bohra clarified that ISPAN was for fair treatment in the case. “If ISPs are imprisoned for providing service to illegal VoIP operators, why authorities are not involving telecom operators in the investigation for providing VoIP racketeers their SIM cards,” he argued.
ISPAN officials said they were fully cooperating with security bodies to track down illegal VoIP operators. After security bodies asked ISPAN to make monitoring more effective, ISPs are providing multiple router traffic grapher (MRTG) data to security bodies. The date helps security personnel monitor network traffic.
“Illegal VoIP operators need higher bandwidth. But this doesn´t mean that everyone using higher bandwidth is illegal VoIP operator,” said Bohra.
NT a few days ago had submitted a memorandum to Nepal Telecommunication Authority, drawing the attention of Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA) toward arrest of ISPs. Protesting the arrest, ISPAN had also shut internet service for an hour on Sunday afternoon.
Controller of High Level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT), Rajan Raj Pant, said he was not in favor of shutting internet service. “I support ISPAN´s demand, but the nature of its protest is not acceptable,” he added.
CAN president Suresh K Karna said illegal VoIP use will automatically come down if tariff on international calls is reduced. Expressing CAN´s solidarity with ISPAN´s protest, he said ISPs should not be victimized for just providing internet service.
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