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Internet groups denounce Rifi call to ban digital drug sites [The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon](Daily Star, The (Beirut, Lebanon) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 01--BEIRUT -- A coalition of Arab tech and Internet freedom organizations Friday denounced a call by Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi to ban websites that offer so-called "digital drugs," saying such a measure would be legally baseless. "Lebanese have become accustomed to waking up to peculiar initiatives regarding censorship on certain websites, which started with the blocking of gambling sites without referring to any legal grounds or applicable laws," a joint statement by four groups read. "The request made Thursday by ... Rifi, is [suspicious], if not ridiculous, where he asked the General Prosecutor to take actions towards banning digital drugs websites and to take the appropriate legal action," read the statement signed by the Arab ICT Organization, the Professional Computer Association of Lebanon, the Lebanese Internet Freedom Alliance, and the Arab Internet Freedom Alliance. "Digital Drugs," better known as binaural beats, are audio track that can be bought online. The phenomenon has received mixed reports from doctors and specialists, with some claiming that the digital drug may have detrimental effects on its users, while others claim that it may yield certain benefits. The tunes are used "as a way of achieving a simulated mood or experience using a technique that involves playing two different tones simultaneously in order to alter brainwaves," according to I-Doser, a leading online producer of binaural brainwave doses. When sounds of slightly different frequencies are played through each ear, the brain perceives a third "phantom" beat, which alters the brain. This phenomenon was discovered in 1839 by the German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. "Lebanese people already have plenty of miseries to live with, and now they face an additional obsession to be worried about where their Internet freedom is at risk," the statement continued. It added that no legal framework exists to block such website, and called for awareness campaigns to educate youth about digital drugs rather than impose censorship. ___ (c)2014 The Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon) Visit The Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon) at www.dailystar.com.lb/ Distributed by MCT Information Services |