Let us not forget that Raxat Aliyev had a blog on LJ for a while until Live Journal agreed to delete it.

Apparently the decision was made at the request of government prosecutors who felt that foreign sites were inciting people to acts of terrorism. I suppose I have to hold off judgement until the full list of sites is published, if it ever is. But in the meantime, it appears that the Prime Minister is getting involved. In response to a tweet from Alexei Venediktov, a journalist in Russia, Massimov wrote, “Re: LJ, I’ll deal with it”

Micheal Hancock wrote a good piece saying that this incident was unfairly framed as evil censoring government vs. company, which I thought was  a good point. Even though the Kazakhstan government has given plenty of reason to believe that they are for Internet censorship (c.f. this recent statement by Nazarbayev about the “threat” of the Internet), in this case they are only regulating .kz sites, not blocking any sites or accusing Google of crimes.

For what it’s worth, this statement claiming to be from Isin, who heads the Association of IT Companies in Kazakhstan (which administrates the .kz domain) came my way. I’m too lazy to translate it, but it basically says what I said above: Laws cannot be applied retroactively, therefore existing registered sites on the .kz domain do not have to follow the new policy.

Информационное сообщение

Казахстанская ассоциация IT- компаний (администратор домена .KZ) в связи с возникшими запросами сообщает, что действительно в новых Правилах регистрации, пользования и распределения доменного пространства казахстанского сегмента сети Интернет от 7 сентября 2010 года предусмотрено требование размещения серверов интернет-ресурсов доменной зоны .kz на территории Республики Казахстан, что направлено на стимулирование развитие казахстанских интернет-ресурсов.
При этом в ходе подготовки и обсуждения Правил было согласовано, что здесь будет действовать принцип – <<закон обратной силы не имеет>>, и, соответственно, на все доменные имена, зарегистрированные до введения новых Правил, это положение не будет распространяться.
В приказе Министерства связи и информации от 7 сентября 2010 года No.220 достаточно четко написано, что, <<доменные имена, зарегистрированные до введения в действие настоящего приказа, не подлежат перерегистрации и действуют до истечения срока их регистрации…>>. К сожалению, исполнительные лица КазНИКа неправильно истолковали понятие истечения срока регистрации, подразумевая под ним и процедуру ежегодного внесения платы за продление регистрации и, соответственно, неправильно информировали регистрантов в доменной зоне .kz.
Настоящим Казахстансая ассциация информирует и доводит до сведения регистраторов и регистрантов, что требование размещения серверов интернет-ресурсов доменной зоны KZ на территории Республики не распространяется на доменные имена, зарегистрированные до введения в действие новых Правил. Тем не менее, администрация домена .kz будет всегда приветствовать решения регистрантов зоны .kz о размещении своих интернет-ресурсов на серверах, расположенных на территории Казахстана, что будет способствовать развитию зоны Казнет.

Президент Казахстанской ассоциации IT- компаний, администратор домена .KZ
Н. Исин

г. Астана

08.06.2011

Some governments, however, are attempting to create borders on the web without full consideration of the consequences their actions may have on their own citizens and the economy…

We find ourselves in a difficult situation: creating borders on the web raises important questions for us not only about network efficiency but also about user privacy and free expression. If we were to operate google.kz only via servers located inside Kazakhstan, we would be helping to create a fractured Internet…

Measures that force Internet companies to choose between taking actions that harm the open web, or reducing the quality of their services, hurt users. We encourage governments and other stakeholders to work together to preserve an open Internet, which empowers local users, boosts local economies and encourages innovation around the globe.

Presumably the goal of the Ministry of Communication and Information’s new policy (which has been…) is to more easily enforce strict laws which went into effect last year. These laws define the Internet as another form of media and thus under the same laws that apply to the press, such as slander, restrictions on criticizing the Leader of the Nation or his family, and revealing state secrets. Furthermore the law holds site owners culpable for comments made on their sites (so please don’t leave illegal comments here). People leaving comments on blogs have been convicted before. Not to mention the shut down of Sascha Baron Cohen’s .kz website dedicated to Borat. Obviously, if the site has servers located in Kazakhstan it will be much easier for the authorities to shut down a site or get their hands around the sys-admins’ necks.

While this policy may not do much to affect small sites like mine (I’m ok not having a .kz domain), Kazakhstan may suffer as international web-based services like Google decide it is not worth it to rent a space for servers in Kazakhstan, transport equipment here, hire people to look after it, fill out all the bureaucratic paperwork necessary to register, put up with the fact that many sites are blocked by KazTransCom, and find qualified IT workers here. Some have argued that the new law will boost the economy, but frankly I suspect centers that host servers don’t usually hire a lot of people or do a lot of business. It’s basically a room with a lot of computers and a guy to make sure nothing breaks (Am I correct? Narcogen and Chris Merriman, I’m looking at you).

So what will happen is that web services will not provide customized information and services for Kazakhstan. For example, google.kz gives consideration to Kazakh-language and Russian language resources and .kz resources in its search results. Google.com not so much. Online retailers could offer .kz sites that highlight products of interest to local consumers as well as information about Kazakhstani suppliers, distributors and contacts. Airlines could feature flights in and out of Kazakhstan. And so on. And the benefit is simply that if a website does a bad, bad thing, Kazakhstan can punish them more effectively. Of course, many web companies may be willing to locate a server here, but balk at the idea that they are being treated as potential law-breakers.

In short, the authorities are once again putting control and fear ahead of services to the population and economy development.

Global Voices has already put up an article on this with some great commentary from Kazakhstani bloggers and a funny cartoon.

I’m hoping this might a sort of public forum where civil servants and government agencies that don’t perform well will be outed publicly and information about what is being done to make the government more open and transparent will be posted.

Interestingly it doesn’t distinguish between Kazakh and Russian so searching for сын (Russian for “son”) matches the Kazakh сынауға as well as Russian words. And while it does well recognizing word forms that contain the search term (i.e. сын will match сыночок, сына and сынақтан and Назарбаев will produce results for not only Назарбаев, but also Назарбаева), it doesn’t do well with word forms that are shorter or vary from the search term, so looking for дочери will match дочерью but not дочь. This seems like something that a Kazakh/Russian language search engine should be able to do since there are so many word roots.

It also seems to do better with general terms rather than specific terms. So searching for крем gives you better results than searching for крем для глаза (No results) and searching for a brand name like eyesential also gives you no results. (This started while looking for a specific brand of eye cream for my wife).

It’d be interesting to run a comparison with Google or Yandex in terms of usefulness of results, but I leave that to IT people, statisticians, and those with more free time than me.

This one cites the habit of wrapping babies up in so many layers they can’t move. I call them “potato sacks” because the only way to then carry the kid is like a sack of potatoes, as well as the politics of straws, man-purses (I don’t get it either especially in such a homophobic country), plastic bags (much the same thing), and greetings.

I would say the bit on having to greet every single man every day is a bit exaggerated. Many people do go through the office shaking hands with everyone. And occasionally someone will come to the office to talk to person X and shake hands with every man in the office. Imagine working in an office and every time a customer came in, he shook hands with everyone in the whole office. On the other hand, not everyone is quite that hardcore. And I don’t do it. If that’s annoying anyone, I haven’t heard feedback yet.

If you look under Life in KZ or Culture you can find my own observations on interesting differences between Kazakhstan and the US.

From the other side, international sites and services are starting to serve Kazakhstan. Amazon.com ships to Kazakhstan and services like Yelp and Foursquare have a handful of users here, so you’re starting to see more information on shops and restaurants in Kazakhstan. While locals are slowly picking up the idea of using the Internet to shop or find information, the Internet is great for expats who may not speak the language.

And as I just discovered while helping a loyal reader get information about setting up a small factory here, if you’re looking for industrial or specialty goods, All Biz has a pretty good directory of companies in Kazakhstan as well. While the site isn’t good for consumers, if you are doing business in Kazakhstan, it’s a good way to find distributors of frozen peas, medical equipment or even thrust bearings and chemical products for metalworking.

Just thought I’d share the resource in case it was useful for people. And if readers felt like leaving comments with other good web-services that serve Kazakhstan, that would be brilliantly useful.

A little like Yelp for Kazakhstan, Pomidor (which means “tomato” in Russian) lets people put up reviews and stories of their experiences at different businesses in Kazakhstan. It needs a little more work–be nice to have a rating system and a more advanced navigation system to find businesses more accurately. It would also be good to have author profiles. At some point, the businesses themselves will notice this site (if they haven’t already) and start putting up fake positive reviews.But since Kazakhstan doesn’t really have a Yellow Pages and most businesses don’t have a strong web presence or freely available information, this site is very much needed here.

There’s already a lot of content, and it covers everything from restaurants and cafes, to furniture stores, to banks and telephone companies, to companies that offer Santa Claus actors for parties!

I certainly will try to find some time to put up a few good and bad reviews. I should note that the site is in Russian, and I assume they would expect reviews to be in Russian as well. Maybe the expat community should organize an English-language review site from the perspective of foreigners.

I thought it might be fun to answer the questions myself as well, or at least the ones that she put up on her blog. I can really only give my impressions of life in Astana because this is the only part of Kazakhstan I have ever really lived in. I’ve also linked the questions to the post where Kazakhnomad talks about her results.
What is the most common question asked of you by Kazakhs?
Are you married? Is your family here or in the US? Are you a volunteer or do you work for the Embassy? Are you parents still alive? Is it cold in the US like in Astana?
Kazakhstan can be a challenging place to live, even for the locals, what bothers you as a foreigner the most?
The brusqueness of people on the street and lack of common courtesy, lack of customer service, things break all the time and fixing them is difficult, the cold weather, the constant changing as stores close or move to new locations, company and government policies change constantly so you never know what is going on.
What is the most onerous thing about living in Kazakhstan?
Suggested answers:
1. disparity of income in cities of KZ compared to the rural areas
Bothers me, but doesn’t affect me. What bothers me more is the lack of attention to the poor quality of life outside Astana and Almaty.
2. old Soviet era methods of doing things
Very much so. Bureacracy is king and filling out pieces of paper is the national sport.
3. politics in this new “democracy” with residual nepotism
Again, doesn’t affect me directly, but bothers me.
4. traffic gridlock and cars getting too close to pedestrians
As a driver, I can say that the gridlock isn’t too bad–although the fact that it is constant and unpredictable is awful. The psychotic drivers are a real problem. And the psychotic parkers, c.f. lack of common courtesy.
5. air pollution or cold weather or both
Both, yes.
6. police and their wand wave for trumped up fines to drivers
It’s not the trumped up fines. It’s the fact that they take away your license or impound your car for any violation. And they make you wait while the tow truck comes. No matter how cold it is. Then they try to chat with you as if you are friends. “So how do you like Kazakhstan? Have you tried beshbarmak?” Sir, you are towing my car to God knows where because it was dirty, I don’t want to talk to you.
7. laws that are too complex to understand about visas and work permits
More the constant changing of the laws and the fact that no one ever gives you clear and complete instructions. They tell you you need document A, then when you bring that, they tell you that you also need document B, then when you bring A and B, you find out you need a physical from the hospital, so you bring that but you find out that you went to the wrong hospital. Etcetera.
8. feeling cheated or feeling like you are not wanted in Kazakhstan
Feeling cheated, definitely. It seems to me the mentality here to suck the marrow out of workers by piling more and more work on them without increasing their salaries or any kind of benefits.
What is the most precious memory you have had when dining in a Kazakh friend’s home? If it hasn’t happened yet, just wait, it will.
Being served sheep ear and a huge hunk of fat, like 1/4 pound of fat, and being told these were the most precious pieces of meat and a great honor. Realizing I would have to eat them and like it. It was really sweet of them to honor me in that way, and it wasn’t the worst thing I have ever eaten in my life. After a few bites, they figured out I wasn’t really enjoying the fat and I got some meat to mix it up with, which was nice.
Kazakh people are known for their generosity, peacefulness and hospitality. T or F
They are known for it, but generosity and hospitality only extends to family and friends and superiors (bosses, celebrities, the rich or the powerful). To strangers, the Kazakh people (like all former Soviet people) are very brusque or even rude.
Kazakh people are known for their hypersensitivity and holding grudges. T or F
Only when it comes to Borat.
How much does it bother you when you go home from Kazakhstan to your friends and family and they ask you “How is life in Russia?
That rarely happens. It bothers me more when I talk to my bank or a customer service center and they ask me what state Kazakhstan is in, or why I can’t come to a branch store to deal with my problem. You’d think the computer would tell them where Kazakhstan is, if they don’t know it’s a foreign country. That being said, can the world decide if they think Kazakhstan is part of the European zone, the Middle East zone, or Asia?
How do you think we, as foreigners living in Kazakhstan, can help create a better image about this great land of Kazakhstan?
I don’t think we have a responsibility to do so, but writing and telling the truth about life here is probably the best way. That means the good and the bad. The problem with the campaign to have foreigners only write good things about Kazakhstan (i.e. these paid advertisements written by foreign journalists) is that no one believes them. The truth is usually a mixture of good and bad.
Do you think this upcoming O.S.C.E. conference in Astana (Dec. 1-2) will make a difference for Kazakhstan?
I have the benefit of hindsight, but no. The OSCE is not popularly known in the world, the summit didn’t make international news and most places that have declarations named after them are not famous for that. Have you ever heard of anyone going to Geneva to see the place where the Convention was signed?

And of course the way international news travels, Kazakhstan gets international press attention even when it isn’t hosting a summit. So the OSCE summit may have some positive effect but if there is a scandal tomorrow, that will get attention too.
Do you believe that Kazakhstan will reach its goal to be one of the top 50 countries by the year 2030?
Well, it was 51st the year they announced this goal, 2005. The next year, it went down to 56th place. It was 67th last year and now it’s 72nd. So the trend appears to be downwards not upwards. But by 2030, I think it is possible. Reduce the bureaucracy and the corruption, make laws and policies from the point of view of the users (i.e. citizens and businesses), and start really innovating instead of just copying ideas from the West and Russia. The people of Kazakhstan are well educated, intelligent, persistent, and hard working.

So what do my expat readers think? Any answers to these questions?

Kazakhnomad has some of her notes up and it’s worth going through. I think the admissions that Kazakhstan is behind in the areas of education, innovation and scientific research are notable. I do think the general “pick-the-winner” strategy that Kazakhstan tries to follow in innovation, which the President hinted at in referring to the need for more practical science, is misguided. One never knows where the next practical breakthrough will come from so -you need basic research as well as commercial-minded research. But overall it’s nice to hear some criticism of Kazakhstan coming from up to.

Also, as someone involved in education in Kazakhstan, I was happy to hear reference to people learning problem-solving skills. I don’t know if it’s the Soviet-inherited mentality or Kazakh culture, but planning for the worst and having a back-up plan are not generally part of people’s or organizations’ skill sets here.