Nationwide filtering in Thailand

This may be the start of a trend in countries where free speech wields less power: In his weekly radio address, Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told his country that the government "plans to block more than 800,000 pornographic or violent Web sites that officials say are harming the kingdom's youth," Agence France-Presse reports. The government will order the country's Internet service providers to block the sites or they'll lose their licenses, he said. "The ban, which affects both foreign and domestic-based websites, is likely to come into force before Thailand's Children's Day on January 14." Speaking of filtering, a child's friend is another Internet user's enemy, it seems. I wonder if Thailand will soon be on Reporters without Borders's "Enemies of the Internet" list (here's the current list of 15 "countries to watch"). [Thanks to BNA Internet Law for pointing this news out.]