Ethiopia punishes VoIP use with 15 years in prison

Anyone who uses Skype or another VoIP service in Ethiopia can count on a maximum of fifteen years in prison. The law is said to be intended to counter threats. Recently, the only internet provider in Ethiopia already implemented a Tor block.

The VoIP law was already passed through parliament by the Ethiopian government at the end of last month, but is only now being noticed by international media, Al Jazeera reports. According to the government, the ban, which can lead to 15 years in prison if violated, is necessary for safety reasons. It would also threaten the monopoly that the Ethiopian government has on telecommunications.

Recently, Ethio-Telecom, the only state-owned Internet provider in Ethiopia, started blocking Tor traffic, Reporters Without Borders writes. This is done using deep packet inspection, which analyzes the content of internet traffic. Countries such as China and Iran also use this principle. Tor makes it possible to use the internet fairly anonymously over a secure connection.

The new law also gives authorities more powers over companies that import communications equipment. From now on, they must have a license and fall under the authority of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Ethiopia is far behind when it comes to internet infrastructure. An internet connection costs more than many people earn per month. The quality of the connections is bad. Ethiopia also does not have a very good reputation in the field of human rights.