Yemen Portal : A gateway to online content on Yemen Walid AL-SAQAF Arab Techies Workshop Cairo – 24 Dec 2008

YemenPortal.net Aggregating news, opinion, blog, forum, and video content covering Yemen. Currently standing at over 800,000 items retrieved since June 2007.

Aggregating news, opinion, blog, forum, and video content covering Yemen. Currently standing at over 800,000 items retrieved since June 2007.

How Yemen Portal works

Since its launch, YemenPortal.net experienced steady growth, greater popularity and exposure Feedback was generally positive as the portal did not filter content based on content or affiliation of sources. - whether a website was banned in Yemen or not was not taken into consideration when included on YemenPortal.net. All websites with their various affiliations were indexed and included.

Feedback was generally positive as the portal did not filter content based on content or affiliation of sources.

- whether a website was banned in Yemen or not was not taken into consideration when included on YemenPortal.net. All websites with their various affiliations were indexed and included.

Analysis of the database content of YemenPortal.net

Things were going well, until... YemenPortal.net was blocked in Yemen On January 19 th , 2008   A spike! 

What happened on January 13, 2008?

What happened on January 13, 2008?

Most coverage on the demonstration was on the web & very little was reported in mainstream media

Following the ban, there were only three choices: 1) Surrender to government pressure and close down the website, 2) Filter out sources the government does not improve, OR 3) Resistance! 

Resistance starts... Solidarity meetings Renewing domain promptly Constantly updating members and online media with new domain Putting up advertisements on websites pointing to new domain Starting a public campaign locally, regionally and internationally And started a blog to campaign for freeing YemenPortal.net (freeyemenportal.org)

Solidarity meetings

Renewing domain promptly

Constantly updating members and online media with new domain

Putting up advertisements on websites pointing to new domain

Starting a public campaign locally, regionally and internationally

Resistance goes full-scale A portal that includes the content of all banned Yemeni websites in one place Includes a web-based proxy allowing users access to any Yemeni banned website Members were kept updated about the new domain and means to reach the banned content Stories that appeared on YemenPortal.net were accessible in their original website even if the later was banned (through the internal web-based proxy)

A portal that includes the content of all banned Yemeni websites in one place

Includes a web-based proxy allowing users access to any Yemeni banned website

Members were kept updated about the new domain and means to reach the banned content

Stories that appeared on YemenPortal.net were accessible in their original website even if the later was banned (through the internal web-based proxy)

and it was named...

Government meets expectations... and the second domain was also banned... 

And it just went on...  There must be another way!

Access YemenPortal! (Firefox plug-in) Accessible by email, on multiple open websites Applies multiple encryption methods Promoted through a network of Yemeni websites

Accessible by email, on multiple open websites

Applies multiple encryption methods

Promoted through a network of Yemeni websites

Result... 

but less than 24 hours after that...

Work in Progress… Road ahead Expanding YemenPortal.net’s outreach and services Replicating its example for the Arab world by launching ArabiaPortal.net Working on circumvention technologies with global players and other ‘techies’ Promoting legal efforts to promote access to information in Yemen and the region

Expanding YemenPortal.net’s outreach and services

Replicating its example for the Arab world by launching ArabiaPortal.net

Working on circumvention technologies with global players and other ‘techies’

Promoting legal efforts to promote access to information in Yemen and the region

Contact information: Walid Al-Saqaf Founder, Administrator YemenPortal.net [email_address] Tel: +46 076233 9737