The BurmaNet News: March 12, 1999-C

[cabaret96@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Re: The BurmaNet News: March 12, 1999-Check



John Jacobs has informed us of a situation , which ,in the long run , is 
an importanmt issue. I am sure followers of this web site as well as all 
Burma activists would benefit from more information regarding this 
matter.

It would be better if someone could pursue the matter further as 
suggested Jacobs.

S Cabaret.



>From: "John William Jacobs" <jjacobs@xxxxxxxxxx>
>To: BURMANET-L <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: The BurmaNet News: March 12, 1999
>Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 18:45:01 -0700
>
>Hello,
>
>I was wondering if you could help me.  The web page www.myanmar.com
>advertised as the official homepage of the "Union of Myanmar" is being
>hosted by a US company, SMARTNET.  Although I'm not a lawyer or even 
very
>skilled at interpreting the law I feel that this is a direct violation 
of
>the US sanctions imposed against Burma.  This site contains information
>including contacts and regulations on how to conduct business in Burma.
>
>The sanctions imposed by the US directly prohibit any new investment in
>Burma and furthermore prohibit "entering into a contract providing for 
the
>participation in royalties, earnings, or profits in the economic 
development
>of resources located in Burma, without regard to the form of 
participation"
>and "facilitating  transactions of foreign persons that would violate 
any of
>the foregoing prohibitions if engaged in by a United States person".
>
>If I'm not mistaken, hosting a site that is referenced as the official 
home
>page on both the ASEAN site and the Myanmar mission to the UN site, and
>including information on how to invest in Burma, would in fact be a 
direct
>violation of these sanctions.
>
>I have contacted both the US Dept of Justice and the FBI and asked if 
they
>are the correct agencies to contact concerning this issue.  I have not
>received any help or information.
>
>I have also contacted SMARTNET directly and appealed to them on a
>humanitarian level to discontinue their support of this site. They 
don't
>care about the content of the site or what it represents.  I was told 
that
>in the absence of a court order, they will continue to front the domain 
name
>and host the site.
>
>I am asking that the readers of this list, and all others who care 
about
>human rights, contact SMARTNET and request that they discontinue their
>support of this site.  I am of course sensitive to first amendment 
rights

>and issues, but I would hope that SMARTNET would draw the line at 
directly
>supporting the SPDC and their well documented abuses. SMARTNET contact
>information is on their site at www.smart.net.  Please do not do 
anything
>that could be seen as abusive or otherwise improper.  Lets not lower
>ourselves to the level of these people.
>
>Additionally if anyone has any ideas on how to engage the US government 
in
>pursuing this or would like to take on the issue, I would be most 
grateful.
>I will be departing for Thailand and the boarder in three weeks and may 
not
>have the time to see this issue through.
>
>---
>John Jacobs
>jjacobs@xxxxxxxxxx
>

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