If you use the internet in Burma / Myanmar please read this article and then go on to the bottom of the posting for a few new and old suggestions on circumventing the restrictions.

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Restrictions Hit Internet Cafe' Owners
Shah Paung
Irrawaddy
19 February 2007

A long list of regulations issued to Internet cafe' owners in Burma is making it more difficult than ever for them to operate.

The list of about 20 different instructions issued to Internet cafe' owners and obtained by The Irrawaddy aims to keep a close watch on Internet users and restrict their access to all but officially-sanctioned sites.

Users are warned not to attempt to visit politically-affiliated sites and to use only email addresses issued by the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications. Internet cafe's are required to submit every two weeks the personal details of their customers, records of their Internet use and random photo shots of computer screens.

Cafe' owners and their customers are prohibited from downloading web sites and resources and from using external storage devices such as floppy disks, compact disks and flash drives.

An employee at an Internet cafe' in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that the regulations, combined with restrictions introduced last year, made life very difficult for cafe' owners.

"We cannot follow all of the rules because some users are skilled at accessing banned websites," he said. "It is also impossible for us to watching Internet users all the time."

One user said Internet cafe' owners who applied the regulations risked losing customers. "If the shop sticks to the rules, the customers will turn away," he said.

One hour of Internet use at a Rangoon outlet costs 700 kyat (US $0.5) to 1,000 kyat ($0.7 cent). During power cuts an additional 1,500 kyat ($1.1) per hour is charged to cover the cost of generator use.

Burma has only two Internet service providers---the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications and Bagan Cybertech, which was owned by a son of ousted prime minister and intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt until he was purged in 2004.

Irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/

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Below are a few ideas of how to get to Gmail if cafes are attempting to block you:

#1: Use different web addresses

Instead of using http://mail.google.com  use https://mail.google.com

You can also try

    * http://www.gmail.com  or https://www.gmail.com
    * http://gmail.com  or https://gmail.com  
    * http://m.gmail.com  or https://m.gmail.com
    * http://googlemail.com  or https://googlemail.com
    * http://mail.google.com/mail/x/  or https://mail.google.com/mail/x/

#2: Configure your mail program to access Gmail (through POP)

If none of those sites are available the simplest solution might be to configure your mail program (Microsoft Outlook, etc) to connect to Gmail. Instructions can be found on Google's Help Center.

#3: Access Gmail through Google Desktop

Another alternative is to download Google Desktop on to your PC. It will bypass proxies to access Gmail.

#4: Use a web server with Gmail Lite installed

If you're dead set on accessing your mail from the web you can try searching an application called "Gmail Lite". This is an application you can install on your own web site.

Of course, most people don't have their own web site. But if you keep searching through the results you'll find websites that have Gmail Lite installed for anyone to use.

* Surfing through Google Translate (from English to English) will let you navigate through any web site.

http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=engtech.wordpress.com
                
 * Surfing through the Google Web Toolkit (changes appearance of web pages)
          
http://www.google.com/gwt/n

*Surfing through the Google XHTML translator for mobile phones (changes appearance of web pages)

 http://www.google.com/xhtml