MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Anti-Muslim Bias to the International Kindle

luqmaninbmore · 10-07-2009, 07:14 PM

Greetings All,

I'm not trying to sound paranoid or anything, but I did notice that one thing that seems to bind together many of the countries in which the international Kindle will not be sold is that they are Muslim countries. The only Muslim dominated countries that I could find that could receive the Kindle are Albania and Bosnia, which are within Europe, and Tanzania which is in eastern Africa. It is not available for sale within the entire Arab world, even in countries with well-developed infrastructure such as the United Arab Emirates. India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and even Bhutan can receive it, but Pakistan and Bangladesh are excluded. Ethiopians can buy it, but their Muslim neighbours in Eritrea cannot. It is available in Russia and Mongolia, but not in the Central Asian Republics. It is available in Cambodia, Viet Nam and Laos, but not Indonesia or Malaysia (to be fair, Thailand and Korea are excluded as well). I don't think this is due to potential censorship, given that it can be purchased in Myanmar, Bhutan (which has strict policies regarding external media), Russia, India, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe all of which have issues with censorship. Am I rushing to judgement? I find it hard to believe that Pakistani telecoms are harder to deal with than those in India or Sri Lanka, or that the infrastructure of Morocco is lagging behind that of Mongolia. What do you all think?

10-07-2009, 07:14 PM	#1
luqmaninbmore Da'i Posts: 1,144 Karma: 1217499 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Baltimore Device: Toshiba Thrive, Kobo Touch, Kindle 1, Aluratek Libre, T-Mobile Comet	Anti-Muslim Bias to the International Kindle? Greetings All, I'm not trying to sound paranoid or anything, but I did notice that one thing that seems to bind together many of the countries in which the international Kindle will not be sold is that they are Muslim countries. The only Muslim dominated countries that I could find that could receive the Kindle are Albania and Bosnia, which are within Europe, and Tanzania which is in eastern Africa. It is not available for sale within the entire Arab world, even in countries with well-developed infrastructure such as the United Arab Emirates. India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and even Bhutan can receive it, but Pakistan and Bangladesh are excluded. Ethiopians can buy it, but their Muslim neighbours in Eritrea cannot. It is available in Russia and Mongolia, but not in the Central Asian Republics. It is available in Cambodia, Viet Nam and Laos, but not Indonesia or Malaysia (to be fair, Thailand and Korea are excluded as well). I don't think this is due to potential censorship, given that it can be purchased in Myanmar, Bhutan (which has strict policies regarding external media), Russia, India, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe all of which have issues with censorship. Am I rushing to judgement? I find it hard to believe that Pakistani telecoms are harder to deal with than those in India or Sri Lanka, or that the infrastructure of Morocco is lagging behind that of Mongolia. What do you all think? Last edited by luqmaninbmore; 10-08-2009 at 09:11 AM. Reason: Added question mark to indicate that this is a question, not a conclusion.