Committee to Protect Journalists ranked Cuba the tenth most censored nation in the World, but they are improving.

Cuban newspaper vendor sells the state paper, Granma

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has listed Cuba as the tenth most censored country in the world, saying:

Despite significant improvements in the past few years-such as the elimination of exit visas that had prohibited most foreign travel for decades-Cuba continues to have the most restricted climate for press freedom in the Americas.

That sounds pretty bad, but CPJ has been reporting about repression of journalists on their Web site since 1998. In that year, they ranked Cuba as the fourth worst offender on their Enemies of the Press list, saying "The independent journalism movement seemed to gain strength until early 1996, when Cuban MIGs shot down two private planes piloted by exiles from Miami" -- an action that strengthened hard liners in both Cuba and the US -- and went on to say that:

Despite implicit promises to Pope John Paul II that there would be greater room for freedom of expression, Castro continues his control over all media outlets and his harsh treatment of independent journalists, who are routinely detained, arrested and beaten, or forced into exile, especially before major political events.

Unfortunately, I could not find a clear explanation of the methodology for these rankings, nor does the CPJ do them on a regular basis. I found three more in their archive:

• 2006 (Cuba ranked 7th)
  
• 2009 (Cuba ranked 4th)
  
• 2012 (Cuba ranked 9th)

CPJ has many blog posts and some country reports (like this 2011 report on Cuba) which are best found by going to their Web site and searching for Cuba. Somewhat ironically, CPJ needs a better organized and designed Web site.

At any rate, the situation in Cuba is better than it was before, and, with the current rapprochement with the US, I bet Cuba is off the ten worst list next time CPJ publishes their rankings.

Cuba led early Caribbean networking -- might they lead in the future?

Grenada's Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, who heads CARICOM (the Caribbean Community Secretariat), has announced that CARICOM will send a science, technology and innovation committee delegation to Cuba with the hope of strengthening the regional ICT structure.

At first it may seem surprising that CARICOM would be looking for leadership in the nation with the worst Internet access in the region, but, upon reflection, it is not so strange. In the period just before their connection to the Internet, Cuba was the leading networking nation in the region. In the pre-Internet days, Caribbean networks exchanged traffic asynchronously, doing bulk international transfers once or twice a day.

As shown in the following table, Cuba's pre-Internet international traffic volume was second only to that of the Dominican Republic in early 1996.

Country	Traffic MB/month	Nbr. of networks
Dominican Republic	63.62	2
Cuba	45.54	4
Trinidad & Tobago	17.14	1
Belize	13.74	1
Saint Lucia	11.72	1
Barbados	8.59	1
Bahamas	4.15	1
Suriname	2.29	1
Antigua & Bermuda	1.06	1
St. Vincent & The Grenadines	.79	1
Greneda	.63	1
Guyana	0.10	1
Total	169.37	16

However, international traffic volume does not tell the whole story. Cuba had four significant networks with international links. Three served specific user communities -- Medical researchers and practitioners, Biotechnology researchers and young people at Cuba's Youth Computer Clubs. These networks had their own technicians and knowlegeable users. (The Domincan Republic had two networks but one was dominant, with 94% of the nation's traffic).

The fourth Cuban network was operated by CENIAI, the Center for Automated Information Interchange of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. CENIAI began networking in 1982 and was the Cuban interface to Soviet block networks. They had a large staff and they offered email, discussion forum access, database access, consulting services, etc. Later in 1996 CENIAI established Cuba's first direct connection to the Internet.

CENIAI staff in 1990

(It is interesting to note that Cuban Internet connectiivty was initiated in the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment and it is now overseen by the Ministry of Informatics and Communications -- paralleling the evolution of the Internet from a research and education network to one for general use).

Together, the four networks had 3,386 users -- by far the most in the Caribbean. This and the statistics shown above are from a 1996 article, Cuba Networking Update, which concluded that:

Cuba has developed a sizable user community, with networking skills and applications. The community has grown out of both a long-standing commitment to education throughout the society and major research, development, and therapy programs in biotechnology and medicine.

Given Cuba's networking history, relatively large population, policy on education and research and the present thaw with the United States, CARICOM may be quite right in their expectation that Cuba will become a significant force in Caribbean ICT.

US-Cuba talks on telecommunication and the Internet

Both sides moving slowly

Last week, a US government delegation visited Cuba to discuss telecommunication and the Internet. I've not seen any official release on the meetings, but a few "off the record" quotes by US attendees have been reported in the press:

Latin American Herald Tribune:

• "The United States has identified 'real potential' for faster and more accessible internet and mobile phone services in Cuba, a 'big' trade opportunity for U.S. telecommunications firms in coming years."
  
• “There has already been an express wish by the U.S. private sector to invest in this."
  
• “Cubans create an attractive environment for investment and the provision of services.”
  

Phys.org:

• "[The Cubans] are looking for mechanisms by which, in the first instance, they can expand connectivity while at the same time retaining their mechanism for market management, which is obviously vastly different than ours."
  

Reuters:

• "I believe they are extremely eager to [modernize] ... They are falling behind, and that's denying their people access to knowledge and to the opportunity to grow as an economy and as a people, and they're aware of that,"
  
• "There's real potential here if there's a real will on the Cuban side ... as long as the Cubans create an environment that's attractive to investment ... and attractive to the delivery of services, I believe those services will reach the island."

In general, the US seemed to reiterate the position that our Internet infrastructure and service firms are now authorized to do do business in Cuba and the ball is now in Cuba's court -- what will they allow, what do they want and what can they afford?

I've also had a chance to speak off the record with folks with knowledge of the meeting, so can add a little to these quotes.

The meetings were "constructive" and relatively informal. Previously, US government contact had only been with and through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but this delegation also met with representatives of the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment and ETECSA, the monopoly Internet and telecommunication service provider.

Hearing this, I recalled the early days of the Internet in Cuba, when academics and technical people met freely and informally with members of the Cuban networking community and people from different ministries -- Science Technology and the Environment, Public Health and Higher Education. In those days, the topic was the Internet; today it is business and politics.

The discussions focused on domestic infrastructure, not undersea cables. I asked whether the Cubans had shared specific information on their current domestic
infrastructure. They had not, but the folks I spoke with have gathered a rough picture over time. They think there is a fiber backbone connecting each province (including Isla de la Juventud?) with more fiber in Havana and the tourist areas. There is a mix of equipment from China, France and Vietnam -- the US has competitors.

I asked about the undersea cable being installed between Florida and Guantanamo and was told that it was not mentioned and that Guantanamo is for future discussion -- perhaps in five years.

The delegation met with people from ETECSA as well as the government and I asked about the structure of ETECSA and its relationship to the Ministry of Communication. I was assured that although it is owned by various organizations, ETECSA is definitely a government run operation with revenue of about $1 billion per year.

I also asked about possible legal roadblocks -- civil damage claims by Americans and Cubans. They said that there is precedent for settling such claims and some funds will change hands, but this will not be a deal-killer. Cuba being taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism will also ease these problems. (Stefan M. Selig, the Commerce Department’s undersecretary for international trade has said Cuba will be removed soon).

I asked whether they had discussed copyright violations, for example, in the weekly distributions of software, entertainment, news and other content on flash drives. This was not discussed, but it too will be the subject of negotiation.

I don't know how these things go, but I imagine the government representatives who traveled to Cuba will now meet with and inform US businesses that might are interested in offering things like satellite connectivity, terrestrial wireless equipment, fiber, networking equipment, service, etc. -- giving them some insight into what to expect in terms of regulation and demand. Presumably they are also in touch with companies like Google, IDT and Netflix that have begun investigating and offering service on their own.

The emphasis of these talks was on Cuba as a customer rather than a vendor, and I hope future talks and policy changes facilitate bi-directional business.

One thing is for sure -- these talks were only a small first step. US companies are interested in Cuba, but will move cautiously, realizing that Cuba is poor, has only 11 million people and, more important, they remain a dictatorship with over 50 years of a bureaucratic, socialist economy. That will change, but not over night.

If I were running the show in Cuba, I would also go slowly -- adopting some short term measures, while planning for the long term. I would talk more with equipment vendors than service providers and look to the example of Stockholm instead of Miami. Most important, I would be thinking about the role of ETECSA -- the Cuban Internet should serve the people, not increase government/ETECSA revenue.

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Update 4/6/2015

I speculated that the government officials associated with the delegation to Cuba on telecommunication and the Internet would be letting US companies that were interested in doing business in Cuba know what they learned and on April 1, three officials gave keynote presentations at the Wharton School's sold out Cuba Opportunity Summit attended by 200 executives, investors and analysts at the NASDAQ in NY.

The keynote speakers were Roberta S. Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Stefan M. Selig, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade and Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator, Small Business Administration.

The rest of the summit consisted of panels of expert investors, academics, government officials, etc., including one on opportunities in technology, media & telecom. (Two other industry-specific panel sessions were on opportunities in tourism, payments and retail banking and pharmaceuticals and biotechnology -- immediately "hot" industries). You can see the see the entire agenda here.

As far as I can determine, the sessions were not archived -- the main purpose of a meeting like this is to allow people to meet and network -- but several short interviews were published on the Wharton Web site:

• Hugo Cancio on Cuba's Entrepreneurial Environment (interview summary and 16 minute podcast)
  
• Mark Entwistle on on Opportunities for Business in Cuba (interview summary and 17 minute podcast)
  
• A post on U.S.-Cuba Relations: What ‘Big Steps’ in Diplomacy Mean for Business summarizing remarks of Roberta Jacobson and Stefan M. Selig

If you are reading this, you are probably not in Cuba.

I've been involved in a conversation about content blocking in Cuba recently. The discussion began with this screen shot -- a notice that my blog could not be found at a Nauta access room in Cuba:

I asked around and found one private home where my blog was also blocked and another home, belonging to a foreign journalist living in Cuba, where it was not blocked -- the Cuban blocking is selective.

My blog is hosted on Google's blogging platform, Blogger, and Google assures me that they do not block my blog or any others and that Cubans are free to create blogs on Blogger, watch YouTube videos (if they have fast enough connections), use Gmail and Google Plus, etc.

Google does, however, block Cuban access to their developer site. They are compelled to do that by the government because the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism includes Cuba, along with Iran, Sudan and Syria, and encryption algorithms are considered weapons. Cubans cannot download Google Earth for the same reason; however, if a Cuban installs a copy of the program, it works -- the service and data are not blocked.

Until recently, Cubans were unable to download the Google Chrome browser (maybe because it contains https code), but that restriction has been removed. I'm sure that anyone in Cuba who wanted Chrome earlier had little trouble getting a copy.

Cuba's being on our list of sponsors of terrorism is about as goofy as their list of jobs that are eligible for self-employment, so I would expect to see that reversed soon.

Google is compelled to block access to their developer tools and Google Earth code, but on a recent visit to Cuba, a Google delegation said they could not accepts Cuban apps in their Play Store. I don't understand that restriction now that US companies are authorized to do business with Cuban programmers.

I wonder why the Cuban authorities decided to block my blog and when. Perhaps it was after reading the very first post in which I postulated three primary causes of the sad state of the Cuban Internet. One of those was the government's fear of freedom of speech and communication. Maybe that did it. If so, it's too bad the censor did not notice that I also said the US embargo was another cause.

In general, I've tried to keep politics out of my posts -- I see enough that is good and enough that is bad on both sides to get everyone angry with me.

Some time ago, someone commented that I had probably been assigned a state security officer. At the time, I wrote a post saying "hi" and inviting him or her to comment on my posts. The offer remains open -- and, if you exist, thanks for not blocking my Google Plus posts. Oh, and you might ask the NSA for a look at my emails.

El Paquete and Mi Mochila -- sneakernet competitors

I would be curious to know how one submits and ad or music video for distribution in El Paquete and who and how much they pay to have their material included.

Michael Voss (@mvosscuba) of CCTV just did a news segment on El Paquete, a weekly distribution of entertainment and information on flash drives. Voss says El Paquete, which sells for about $2 per week and is available throughout Cuba, has has increasing amounts of advertising, like this ad for a local restaurant:

and videos of Cuban talent like Joel La J, lead singer for the band Los Metalicos.

El paquete is a cool response to a lack of connectivity, but I am left wondering who is assembling this material. Voss says "there's no single person or organization putting the weekly package together; rather it’s a loose knit grouping (sic) across the country." That does not answer my question though -- there are many neighborhood distributors, but who compiles the material?

Cuban blogger Isbel Diaz Torres (@Isbel_oc) has suggested that El Paquete might be produced by the government. I would be curious to know how one submits and ad or music video for distribution and who and how much they pay to have their material included.

El Paquete seems to have a sanctioned competitor in Mi Mochila, a collection of material curated and distributed by the Joven Clubs. Unlike El Paquete, the source of Mi Mochila is known and, as a Joven Club project, it is sanctioned by the government.

Is this inter-government competition? Regardless, I expect that the issue of government sanctioned copyright violation will have to be addressed during the negotiations leading to the US and Cuba establishing diplomatic relations.

The CCTV segment:



Update 8/11/2015

The BBC reports that "the advertising firm ETres offers Cuban businesses such as restaurants, photographers and beauty salons the opportunity to reach their prospective clients for a fee via the Paquete."

The Miami Herald also has an article on the return of advertising to Cuba.

Please, Cuba -- no billboards!

At most, allow murals and street art like "Wrinkles of the City:"

A high-level US delegation is in Havana to discuss telecommunication and the Internet

I hope Cuba's policy is not shaped by political fear or the desire to protect government/ETECSA revenue and that the US delegation is not trying to influence Cuban politics or maximize the profit of US telecommunication companies.

Conrad Tribble, second ranking diplomat at the US Interests Section in Havana, posted a tweet this morning saying a US delegation is meeting with the Cuban government today to discuss telecommunication and the Internet.

Last month, Roberta Jacobson, who is heading our negotiations with Cuba, said the meeting would be to ascertain how we could "work with the Cuban Government on increasing its capacity for greater internet connectivity to better support access to information by the Cuban people."

The US has indicated that, in spite of the trade embargo, we are willing to offer Internet infrastructure and services to Cuba and I suspect that the purpose of this meeting is to begin to learn what the Cuban government and ETECSA are willing to allow.

I hope Cuba's policy is not shaped by political fear or the desire to protect government/ETECSA revenue and that the US delegation is not hoping to influence Cuban politics or maximize the profit of US telecommunication companies.

Cuba has little legacy Internet infrastructure to protect -- it is a "green field." I am not betting on it happening, but they have a chance to build a uniquely Cuban Internet to serve the Cuban people.

As Conrad Tribble says, this meeting should be interesting.

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Update 3/26/2015

The talks were completed this afternoon. Voice of America reported that the delegation, led by Daniel Sepulveda (@DSepDC), the U.S. State Department's coordinator for international communications met with Cuban officials led by deputy communications minister Jose Luis Perdomo. A statement by Havana says the Cuban side offered the U.S. delegation information about the country's computer systems and cybersecurity policy.

Mr. Perdomo headed the organizing committees for the 2011 and 2013 Informatica conferences and says the limitations on Cuban Internet access are technical, not political and has stressed the government's willingness to open Internet access to the general public. Let's hope he is sincere and represents current thinking of the Ministry of Communication.

Jose Luis Perdomo

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Update 3/26/2015

The US delegation visited the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Foreign Investment plus ETECSA, UCI & ISPJAE.

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Update 3/31/2015

We are starting to see some reaction to the US delegation to Cuba. Reuters reports that Cuba said they are committed to getting "Web" access to 50% of the households by 2020 and a US representative said that "as long as the Cubans create an environment that's attractive to investment ... and attractive to the delivery of services, I believe those services will reach the island." (Does that mean Cuba wants 50% international Internet access)?

A post on the Havana Times blog asserts that the fix was in from the start and Cuba will hand over telecommunication to the US.

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Update 6/10/2015

Roberta Jacobson, Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere says that Cuba remains undecided on how to modernize their telecommunication infrastructure -- "I do not think they have taken a decision yet -- it's a fundamental dilemma for them. They will have to decide which route to take, what kind of system, how much to do and how fast."

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Update 6/14/2015

An article in Politico says another high level delegation is going to Cuba to meet with government officials to suggest ways to improve connectivity. Google is featured in the article and is said to have a specific proposal, but there will be around a dozen others. I know of one of the other companies and they also have a specific proposal.

I've given Google "advice" about things they might do in Cuba here, here and here -- I'll be curious to see what they propose and what the Cuban reaction is.

My guess is that Google's proposal will have to do with datacenter or connectivity infrastructure -- they are really good at both, have experience in developing nations and, as they state in their 10-K annual report for 2014 “in the long term as we invest heavily in our systems, data centers, real estate and facilities, and information technology infrastructure.”

Cuban apps in Google's (or anyone else's) online store?

A Google delegation, led by Scott Carpenter, Deputy Director of Google Ideas, and Brett Perlmutter, who had accompanied Eric Schmidt on his Cuban visit earlier this year, is in Cuba. They have visited two important technical universities and some of the Cuban Youth Computer Clubs.

At the University of Information Science, the Google representatives were asked about access to their developer's Web site. Evidently Google is required to block access to that site because the State Department lists Cuba as a sponsor of terrorism and the site contains encryption software. Hopefully Google will be able to open that site to Cuban programmers when the terrorist designation is reversed.

Students also asked whether games they had developed could be marketed through the Google Play store, and were told that was not possible at this time.

I find that a bit confusing, because it is my understanding that the US will now allow software imports from Cuba as long as the programs are produced by independent entrepreneurs and computer programmer is one of the jobs the Cuban government authorizes for self-employment.

There may be some problem with allowing Cubans to sell software through Google Play that I am not aware of, but, if that is not the case, this would seem like a quick, simple thing for Google to do. (I'll add it to my earlier posts on things Google might do in Cuba and things the Cuban government might do).

Netflix moved quickly to offer their service for sale in Cuba, and it seems that Google has an opportunity to kick off commerce in the other direction. While there is little chance of Netflix doing much business in Cuba at this time, Cuban Spanish language apps -- games or more serious things like medical or educational applications -- might sell well in the Play store.

Of course, the same applies to Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and any other company selling apps online.

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Update 4/14/2015

Secretary of State Kerry has formally recommended rescinding Cuba's status as a state sponsore of terrorism. The president says he will act soon.

Assuming he follows the State Department recommendation, will that allow Google and others to list Cuban software and other content in online stores?

Will Google be able to provide Cuban programmers access to their development tools?