77MM UV FILTER

Dedicated to the people of the United Arab Emirates who are not able to access flickr because the phone company (Etisalat) blocked it FOR NO GOOD REASON.

...............................................FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.................................................

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Martin Niemoeller
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Flickr has been blocked in UAE one more time and now we, the users from UAE, are really upset & we want Flickr Administration to contact Etisalat
& convince them to NOT consider Flickr as a pornographic site.

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This is a petition asking you to contact Etisalat, the internet service provider in the UAE, asking them to permanently remove the block it has placed on UAE residents accessing flickr. Today, Etisalat has implemented a total ban on the use of Flickr in the UAE. The statement delivered by Etisalat when asked why they block Flickr states: "We are treating flickr as we are treating pornographic sites. The increasing number of porno pictures in the pages was what made us block the site. We will NOT unblock it, as we did before, because we consider it to be a pornographic site and we will not allow those kinds of images to be viewed by our users. sorry for the inconvenience." Earlier this year Etisalat shut flickr.com down for one month.

[need to fact check, month/week? Read it on UAE member page but can't remember. And why did they unblock it then? Would be good to have that info here. ]

Flickr UAE members forms one of four of the largest users clusters on flickr. It is an enormous group which is largely self-contained. Its users are highly artistic, professional photographers who support and mentor other UAE members on their creative work. Their work is comprised primarily of, creative, talented, devout, and patriotic images that do nothing but support the morals, culture and enthusiasm of the UAE as a whole in the eyes of the world.

This debate has been going on for some time on Flickr Central forums and flickr administration has agreed to implement an 18 filter and controls to every flickr member which will resolve the issue Etisalat is taking a stand on.

Please support our efforts to keep freedom of speech and expression alive world wide and to help our UAE bothers and sisters resume their vital and creative flickr community.

Unblocked Shaped Triangle from A Gathering of Lace. Knit with 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces