Report: MySpace banned in UAE, like BoingBoing, presumably with SmartFilter

A friend of BoingBoing who is currently working in the United Arab Emirates reports that attempts to reach the popular social networking site MySpace using a terrestrial broadband connection are blocked. Sources tell us that the filtering system at use here is "SmartFilter," produced by the American censorware company Secure Computing.

The would-be MySpace user in the UAE reports: 

They give a pretty interesting screen message saying that it is blocked because it is inconsistent with their religious, moral and cultural values. I took a screen shot if you are interested. Also, Google seems to strip out all ads on their site here.

Earlier, our readers in the UAE reported that the state-run ISP in that country was also blocking BoingBoing.net, with the help of SmartFilter: Link.

Previously:
Distributed BoingBoing, for those blocked by censorware
SmartFilter, BoingBoing, and Adult Baby – Diaper Lovers.
Xeni's NYT op-ed: Exporting Censorship
More on SmartFilter blocking BoingBoing and other popular sites.

Reader Comment: Arthur Magill says,

I'm wondering if SmartFilter blocks BBC News, for displaying gratuitous nudity? This BBC News link points to photos of sculptures by Auguste Rodin, highlighting a forthcoming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Blocking a major news site like the BBC would be pretty serious. I'm not filtered here, so I can't check. If any of your readers could check, I'd like to know what the BBC would have to say. If it isn't filtered, I'd like to know why Secure Computing will make some exceptions and not others? I must be reading too much BoingBoing, because I keep wanting to shout at the world for being wrong. Keep up the good work.