A Skype call in Ethiopia will now get you 15 years in prison

The new legislation will criminalize the use of all Voice Over IP services, such Skype or Google Voice, from within the country, according to an Al Jazeera report. The legislation, which was voted into law last month with little notice from international media, seems to close a loop hole allowing some of its citizens to communicate without being monitored by authorities.

The country’s sole communication infrastructure is operated by a government-run telecom Ethio Teleco. The new legislation empowers the state-owned telecom to not only prohibit the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services, nevertheless also video chatting, social media communication, e-mail usage, and any other data transfer service capable of communicating information. So at heart, that encompass pretty much all communication except for speaking aloud, and talking within your own mind.

The law as well gives the government the right to inspect any imported of voice communication equipment as so then as the power to ban any inbound packages that don’t have prior permission from the state, according to the Al Jazeera report.

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