[babalu1997]

I was curious about this recent post, so I asked the google, but could not find a reference to restrictions on internet use in Venezuela.

I keep wondering how is it that a government can dictate how long one can be on the internet, while it might be easier to simply restrict acess sites of interest on the internet.

Or perhaps the player in question is restricted for other reasons such as a time restriction imposed by an employer, or because they must play in a public machine.

http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?sho...ndpost&p=399598

[barmar]

It looks like they have a nationalized telecom infrastructure. If the government is paying for your Internet access, they can limit how much they'll pay. Perhaps the limit isn't a hard limit, but if you want more you have to pay out of pocket.

[Hanoi5]

Hahaha! you people have it all wrong! The internet has not been restricted (yet). Sometimes it's a little slow, sometimes we have a blackout and we blame it on the government who might be doing it on purpose or just because they are really bad at handling stuff.

But what is restricted for us is the exchange of Venezuelan currency into ANY foreign currency. So If I want to pay to play at bridgebase (those money tournaments or maybe the ACBL ones) I can only use $400 a year (that is $400 for internet use, not only bridgebase, I usually spend mine at amazon). In fact if I travel and I want to use my Venezuelan credit card I need to ask for some permits (for using my credit card in the internet, too) and then I can only use $2500 a year. If I don't have a credit card, or if I want to have cash, I will have again to ask for a special permit and then get some $600 cash...for a year.

Of course these restrictions are only for the 'normal' people. If I were part of the government I could get any amount I wanted as was evidenced by the fact that the Venezuelan Chancellor was checked in New York a couple of years back and discovered to have some $10,000.00 cash on him. And on the other side i can always use my international credit cards outside the country.

The Black Market is prohibited. In fact if you mention that word on TV (or any media) referring to the sale of international currency you could be sent to jail or fined.

[barmar]

That makes a little more sense. The government is using this to manage the balance of trade.

When Joanne wrote "spend $140/year on the Internet", it seemed like she meant "spend $140/year to use the Internet", not "use the Internet to spend $140/year."

[bid_em_up]

Hanoi5, on Oct 6 2009, 08:09 AM, said:

The Black Market is prohibited. In fact if you mention that word on TV (or any media) referring to the sale of international currency you could be sent to jail or fined.

I would assume that any media would include the Internet.

Do you need to go into hiding now?

[Hanoi5]

The internet is not considered a media in this case. In fact there are web pages which present the daily price of the black dollar which I guess aren't/can't be located in Venezuela. But any other webpages (newspapers and news channels) cannot use the word or inform about it, so in a way if I were seen talking about it I might be reprimanded (if it were in the government's interest, for example if I were an opposition politician).

This foreign exchange restriction has been 'on' for some years now. The truth is that not only this bad government has implemented it: No government in Venezuela (since the 80's) has been able to keep the dollar at a steady price without resorting to a exchange control. The exchange control commision always becomes a source of corruption, but if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time a black market has been banned.

At the beginnig you could use $3000 on the internet and $5000 for trips each year. Banks started issuing pre-paid credit cards and everyone had one and of course dollars which they used to sell in the black market. For example, someone asks his/her maid to get a pre-paid credit card and then take it from her and use it abroad and bring the cash to sell (or for personal use). I remember I bought some iPods and other things and sold them for a nice price, but of course the government realized what was going on and then restricted the dollars even more. They also prohibited pre-paid cards.