How do you feel about the new UAE media law? Do you feel it protects you and is a step away from censorship, or do you believe it increases your chances of being punished for ruining the country's reputation?
Jail is out (good news); fines are in for damaging the UAE's reputation or economy. Potentially, does this mean fines for any negative stories about the UAE? There has been plenty of coverage on the country's economy, as well as issues of transparency particularly in the real estate sector. A lot of this coverage in recent weeks has been negative. Will this change?
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The line about not damaging the country's economy has always been the law. Only the fines instead of jail are new. In practice it's never enforced.
A repressive law which, if implemented last year, would have prevented most reporting on the Deyaar/DIB corruption arrests.
It may not have been enforced before, but with a revamp who is to say it wont be now? Dubai is notoriously touchy about anyone reporting that the emirate is not in tip-top form, and only a madman (or Gulf News/KT) would now say that Dubai is sitting peachy.
Not naming suspects is hardly out of synch with British media law, but "damaging the economy"? Sounds iffy, and dangerous for any serious hack in the country.
The markets tend to rise and fall, and a crashing market is bad for the economy. I decided to help. Here is a template that the government-backed papers (its always sunny at Emirates Business) can use when the D.F.M. drops.
The Dubai market closed at 1500 points yesterday as shareholders decided to have a big sale to mark the (DSS, DSF, solidarity with Palestinians, etc) festival.
An analyst at a major foreign bank - which the emirate's sovereign wealth fund bought into at peak prices in 2007 - said stocks are at a "steep discount" which is a great buying opportunity for residents and nationals.
"When will you ever see Emaar at six dirhams again?" he exclaimed.
While the analyst stressed that any investment could go down, he said investors should view stocks like any other asset class. "When you buy a car, wedding ring, or off-plan desert property, the resale value usually declines over time."
Prices for rare items tend to pick up, like stocks of companies that produce profits or have less than 10 top managers in jail, the analyst noted, adding that most shares in Dubai are expected to remain "affordable" because the index is "vertically challenged."
It's not enforced because editorial and owners do that job for the authorities themselves.
SSDD
WWTTFF??
The main offenders are the international media. Local and regional media then pick up the story and run it. Can you see the UAE authorities prosecuting the Wall Street Journal? Or the FT? No, nor can I.
i thought they had said international (free zone) media was exempt? In which case, you're only left with UAE papers, who already self-censor.
Qatar has weighed in with its criticism - http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&month=January2009&file=Local_News2009012715933.xml
Where was everyone???
http://jacquesrenault.wordpress.com/
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