Monday, February 15, 2016
Any of these 10 online activities could land you in jail in some part of the world.Internet is the unrestricted realm for its users. It brings you latest information, allows you to share movies, images and music without any limits, allows you to communicate in a split second. It has many other advantages. But their are some disadvantages that come with it in some countries.
Particularly if you dont follow certain rules and regulations laid down by these countries while using the Internet. Cyber crimes also increased, if anyone is seen violating rules of Internet, he/she may be put behind the bars. So, see the below activities that can get you arrested.
#1 Have an Open Wi-Fi
Keeping your WiFi Open and not keeping it password protected can sometimes land you in prison. Your open Wi-Fi connection can be used by criminals or terrorists without your knowledge and this can land you in trouble with the law in almost any country. This happened with a person name Barry Covert whose open WiFi was used by his neighbor to access child pornography websites. Though, police arrested his neighbour when they found nothing incriminating on Barry’s computer, he had to face the police for a month before the correct person was arrested. It is always better to password protect your Wi-Fi with WEP, WPA (WPA-Personal), and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2).
#2 Deleting Your Search History
Sometimes erasing your search history can also land you behind the bars. This happened in United States, when a person namely David Kernell was arrested for deleting information on his computer. A University of Tennessee student, Kernell was being investigated by federal authorities for allegedly hacking Yahoo Account of the then vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.
India to had brought about laws making it mandatory for users to save their history for 3 months. But the same was scrapped after there was huge public outcry against it.
#3 Offensive Messages or Tweets
Making offensive posts or tweets can land you in trouble in any part of the world. Two persons from United States,Leigh Van Bryan aged 26 and Emily Bunting aged 24 tweeted about their journey “Free this week for a quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America”. Their passports were seized when they arrived in US. They were interrogated for about five hours on doubt of committing crimes. Bryan and Bunting tried to convince the police that “Destroying” was a British slang for “Partying.”
#4 Using VOIP services
This issue is country specific and only limited to Ethiopia. Using VOIP services like Skype is strictly prohibited in Ethiopia and can land you in prison. The country’s new telecommunications law strictly prohibits VOIP services, which consist of audio and video communication and transfer of information over VOIP clients. We advise you that if you are citizen or tourist of Ethiopia then don’t even dare to use Skype.
#5 Dancing in a Video
This is a serious offence in Iran. In fact, six persons were arrested for dancing to a video from Pharrell Williams song “Happy”. The Iranian judiciary found them guilty and they received 91 lashes as well as year’s prison sentence. Though later, the sentences were suspended and they got of after three months. In another case, three men and three women were seen dancing on the road and on rooftops in Tehran were also arrested.
A youth was jailed in Russia for 15 days and two women were jailed for 10 days after they were found to be allegedly dancing and making a video near a Second World War memorial.
#6 Leaving Internet Comments
Syria is now a battlefield between different warring factions for control of territory. Even then, commenting on the Internet is a crime in Syria. Human Rights Watch reported that in 2007, Syrian authorities arrested two person and they were shifted to unknown place, apparently for offering their comments about the censorship in Syria on a website.
#7 Translating Articles
Translating banned books can land you in jail in any country. Thailand authorities arrested an American citizen who translated an article on his blog. The article was termed as “offensive to the autocracy” by the Thai authorities who consider their King as a supreme being. Even posting on Facebook/tweeting against the King can land you in jail in the Lese Majeste laws.
In Indonesia, a person was put behind the bars for two years after he posted “God does not Exist” on “Facebook”.
#8 Gambling
Online gambling is banned in many countries across the globe. Similarly online gambling can land you behind the bars. This includes if you organize gambling or playing online games like Poker, Blackjack etc.
#9 File Sharing
#10 Posting Lyrics on Facebook
This may have happened only once. Unites States authorities arrested rapper and school student, Cameron D’Ambrosio was arrested for posting rap lyrics on Facebook. The police allege that D’Ambrosio made terrorist threats under the garb of rapping. Prosecutors sought to charge D’Ambrosio with threats to make a bomb or hijack a vehicle, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
There are many such laws which can put in a spot of bother while surfing online. Making racist comments or hurting religious sentiments is a strict taboo online like it is in the real world. If you know of any other such unknown laws exist in some country, kindly note them down in the comments section.
