The [him] moderator has discovered that internet connections have been poor a lot longer than three days.

*********************

Internet users in Myanmar face third day without connection
Agence France Presse
25 May 2006

Yangon: Internet users in Myanmar were experiencing a third day without web access Thursday after the military-ruled country's already tenuous links to the online world were cut, service providers said.

Internet service providers were at a loss to explain the problem, and officials could not say if the connection was broken or if it had been deliberately taken down.

Internet users could only access local websites, which are usually government-run.

The link went down on Tuesday afternoon, forcing Internet cafes in Yangon to close their doors. "We don't know yet when the connection will be good. We feel very sorry for our customers," one cafe owner said.

The cost of a computer and Internet service is beyond the means of most people in this impoverished country.

But many city dwellers use Internet cafes, despite the strict monitoring of their activities by the junta.

Myanmar's military regime imposes some of the toughest Internet censorship rules in the world, blocking access to web-based email services like Yahoo and Hotmail, as well as to international news media.

The break in service has caused major problems for airlines that use the Internet to update their flight data.

"Airlines and some businesses are facing problems in updating their information," one tour company manager told AFP.