In case you didn’t know, Alfa has blocked Viber on its 3G network and MTC will follow suit later on seeing as the demand to stop Viber came from the ministry of telecommunications.
I don’t want to go into speculation as to the reason of the ban and I have asked the minister on twitter about that but he didn’t reply. It seems this whole #ProtectPrivacy balderdash only works when it’s aimed at your political opponents. This is proof that what I said is true – the ministry doesn’t give a rat’s ass about your freedom except when it serves them politically.
Incidentally, Lebanese Twitter and Facebook users were not up in a fit about this as they were about #ProtectPrivacy thing. Guess it only works when they’re driven by some politician. It feels good to be right.
Anyway, seeing as Viber is not the only VoIP app available on Apple’s AppStore and Google Play – or whatever that store is called, I figured I’d make a list of other apps that you can use and which haven’t been blocked yet. The VPN fix requires you to pay for a subscription eventually. Hopefully by the time they block all other viber-like apps, some Lebanese would have seen through all the ministry’s bullshit and decided to call them up on it.
This is a whatsapp alternative that also allows you to call those that have activated it on their numbers. It’s also free.
This app allows you to call US and Canada numbers for free and most importantly, it lets you call other people who have Vonage.
Has the same components as Viber and then some more such as video chats.
Allows free calls, video calls and free group calls to those who have it activated on their number.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
“Viber Media is a Cyprus based company with development centers in Belarus and Israel.”
That might be the reason.
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Apple, Intel, Microsoft, HP, Palm, Samsung, etc… have development centers in Israel.
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>Incidentally, Lebanese Twitter and Facebook users were not up in a fit about this as they were about #ProtectPrivacy thing.
> Guess it only works when they’re driven by some politician
Or maybe they were up in arms because the right to privacy is a basic human right according to the UN Declaration of Human Rights but the right to use Viber is … well… not as fundamental?
Banning Viber is a stupid decision from a stupid government (and hopefully will be reverted) , but please don’t confuse the magnitude of both issues.
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Their right to use viber is similar to their right to email/text/Facebook/Twitter etc… you know, the components of their privacy that they were up in a fit about.
Banning viber is not of the same magnitude but it’s of the same nature and done by a person who’s supposedly fighting for privacy. I’ve linked to my post on the matter. I suggest you read it.
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Have you found that video and voice calls via Vonage are also banned?
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Really? Had no idea.
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