COUNTRIES THAT TRACK INTERNET ACTIVITY

Web filtering is just one method of restricting access to the
Internet. Here are some countries that have tried to control or track
their residents' online activities, according to Reporters Without
Borders, a French advocacy group.

SAUDI ARABIA The government filters all traffic through a central
server and recently issued regulations banning access to sites
considered subversive, contrary to the state or its system, or
damaging to the dignity of the heads of state.

BURMA Except for some government officials and businessmen, few people
in this military-controlled country have access to the Internet. A
colonel was jailed after visiting an opposition political site.

CHINA Internet service providers must install Internet filters that
block the Web sites of many Western media outlets, Taiwanese and Hong
Kong newspapers, human rights groups and Falun Gong, the banned
spiritual movement. The government has set up a special Internet
police unit.

BRITAIN Last year the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act extended
police phone-tapping privileges to the Internet. If asked, companies
and individuals would have to help law enforcement officials decode
lawfully obtained data.

RUSSIA The government has instituted an Internet surveillance system
that requires I.S.P.'s and telephone operators to reroute data traffic
to local law enforcement headquarters, allowing authorities to monitor
phone calls or e-mail.

AUSTRALIA The government does not filter the Net, but the Broadcasting
Services Act, which took effect last year, defines forbidden online
content, including specific representations of sexual acts, and
information on crime, violence and the use of certain narcotics.