The Blocking of Viber in Saudi Arabia

The Blocking of Viber in Saudi Arabia Mansour Alaithan Ali alakalifa INTRODUCTION What’s Viber ? Viber  is a app for instant messaging  also for Voice over IP  (VoIP) for smart phones  owned by Viber Media. Not only voice messaging but also users able send and receive images, video and audio media messages, Viber was founded by four  Israeli partners and they are Talmon Marco, Igor Megzinik, Sani Maroli and Ofer Smocha. Viber Mediais registered as a Cyprus company in  Las Vegas  and its development centers located in Belarus  and  Israel. The foundeders of the company are Talmon Marco  and Igor Megzinik, who are friends from the  Israel Defense Forces. The company is running from Israel, with lot of the app’s developments outsourced to Belarus in order to lower labor-costs. It was founded in 2010, with the four Israeli co-owner of the company who have each increased their exploitation by more than 30 times on the startups $900 million sale to  Rakuten. What happened? In March Saudi government have warned encrypted messaging services like Viber and others that would be blocked if they don’t provided a means to be monitored. The head manager Marco had refused to provide the requested data to Saudi officials. It was expected that Vibers free voice calls and text messaging service is no longer working in Saudi Arabia is not entirely unexpected. Telecoms regulator of Saudi Arabia had warned them also warned Skype and WhatsApp .they would be blocked if they did not provide the date requested . Saudis and expatriates that lives in Saudi Arabia were prompted by this warning to protest against this move. Others started to censor their messages, in case they were already being monitored. The head manager told BBC that Saudi IPS and mobile operator begun to asking for information about the internal workings of the service a couple of months ago of that time . Circumventing the problem: Marco said Viber had faced the same problem of blocking the app in other county. There, he said he believed the motive was political, but in Saudi Arabia it was unclear whether commercial interests might also be at stake. Marco ( the head of the messaging application) Viber has said people in Saudi Arabia have had basic freedoms taken away, after his service was blocked there. So we face here a freedom of speech problem . The head manager Marco told the BBC he did not know the reason for the move, but that Viber would be restored soon. So this problem rises couple of question, like what is the meaning of freedom of speech, what are the limits and law in Saudi Arabia, and what the ethical issue did Viber rises by not providing information. what is the meaning of freedom of speech Freedom of speechis the civil right to connect ones opinions and ideas. The word freedom of expressionis occasionally used synonymously, but contains any act of seeking, getting and telling information or ideas, nevertheless the medium used. Rules restrict speech with varying limits. Common limits on speech relate to slander, libel,  obscenity,  sedition,  pornography, incitement,  fighting words,  classified information,  hate speech,  copyright violation,  trade secrets,  non-disclosure agreements,  right to be forgotten,  right to privacy, public security,  public nuisance,  public order, campaign finance reform  and  oppression. Whether these limits can be defensible under the harmbe contingent upon whether manipulating a third partys opinions or activities harmfully to the second party founds such harm or not. The words offense principle is also usedto grow the range of free speech limits to forbid forms of expression where they are measured offensive to people, different interest groups or persons. For example, freedom of speech is limited in many rules to broadly different grades bysystems, religiousor  incitement to ethnic or racial hatredrules. Privacy Privacy is the gift of an individual or group to separate themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby definite themselves selectively. The limits and content of what is measured private vary among cultures and individuals, but share common themes. When something is private to a person, it usually means that something is integrally special or sensitive to them. The domain of privacy partly overlays security, which can include the ideas of appropriate use, as well as defense of information. Privacy may also take the procedure of bodily integrity. The right not to be subjected to illegal invasion of privacy by the government, businesses or individuals is part of many countries privacy laws, and in some cases, compositions. Almost all countries have laws which in some way bound privacy. An example of this would be law concerning assessment, which normally require the distribution of information about personal income or earnings. In some countries individual privacy may clash with freedom of speech laws and some laws may need public expose of information which would be measured private in other countries and cultures. Privacy may be willingly sacrificed, normally in exchange for professed benefits and very often with exact dangers and losses, while this is a very strategic view of human relations. In the business world, a person may agree personal details (frequently for advertising purposes) in order to bet on winning a prize. Private information which is voluntarily shared but then stolen or misused can chief to identity theft. what are the limits and law in Saudi Arabia Human rights in Saudi Arabia are proposed to be created on the Hanbali Islamic religious laws under complete rule of the Saudi royal family. Saudi Arabia has a Counter-Radicalization Program the drive of which is to fight the spread and appeal of intemperate beliefs among the general populous and to impart the true values of the Islamic faith, such as tolerance and moderation. This tolerance and control has been termed into problem by The Baltimore Sun, based on the reports from Amnesty International regarding Raif Badawi. Speech, the press and other methods of communicative media, containing television and radio broadcasting and Internet reception, are actively censored by the government to prevent political opposition and anything deemed, by the government, to be offensive to the Wahhabi culture or Islamic morality. In 2008, a noticeable Saudi blogger and reformist Fouad al-Farhan was caged for posting comments online that were dangerous of Saudi business, religious and media figures, signifying a move by the government to step up its censorship polices of the Internet within its limits. Online social media has progressively come under government search for dealing with the forbidden topics. In 2010 a Saudi man was punished and given jail time for his sexually suggestive YouTube video making. That same year another man was also caged and ordered to pay a fine for arrogant about his sex life on television. And there is a lot of other examples happened with similar problems. It show that the low in Saudi Arabia does not tolerate any action that against the religion or the security of the country in anyway and allowing a free call like Viber and other that share tons of information without being monitor by the government is can cause an infringement of the rules in Saudi Arabia . That’s add a pros to the Saudi Arabia side that they have a right to ask for information. It’s the country rights to track down and search for crimes and protect the religions lows. But still one problem is the privacy of the people and that’s a pros in Viber side. So how this issue is unethical to privacy and what are the limits and the concept of privacy in Saudi Arabia Privacy in Saudi Arabia Data Safety under Shariah Values Shariah ethics protect each individual’s right to privacy and forbid any assaults thereon. In Shariah principles, revelation of secrets is forbidden except inter alia where the owner of the relevant secret agrees to such confession or if the public attention requires so. The Holy Qu’ran and the Sunnah do not specify a consequence for revelation of secrets; however, as clarified above, such release may be punishable by a value that a judge, in his discretion, deems right and fair. Such consequence may include a fine, imprisonment or scarcity of certain rights such as suspension of a practicing license. Data Protection under Saudi Arabian Law In general, there is no exact data protection law in KSA. Therefore, in the absence of specific necessities on data protection, Saudi Arabian courts and adjudicatory bodies will understand data privacy abuses under general Shariah principles, which are, as described above, often sent in general terms and afford courts and adjudicatory bodies huge discretion. We understand, however, that a new individual data protection law is under review by the Shura Council Discussions and Recommendations The Saudi government should have the right to protect its people and the whole system. Meanwhile the Viber wants to give the privacy to its user which is what people needs. Saudi Arabia follows the Shariah which proved the privacy to people , and that why it should and not block it just to monitor the users private message in KSA , and by return it and unblock the service , they’ve done the right thing . Conclusions Saudi Arabia tried to provide the security to people but did not puts in count the other basic fundamental right which is providing privacy to people. References: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22806848 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viber#Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia#Freedom_of_press_and_communication Data Protection in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Primer Noor Al-Fawzan and Omar Elsayed

Promoting Unity

We have been an independent nation for more than 70 years. In the early years of the post independence era, the various races worked hard to develop the country. The progress that we see and enjoy today would not have been possible if not for the hard work of our forefathers. As the older generations would attest, race or religion was never an issue. Our country was, in fact, a fine example to the world on how racial and religious tolerance should be. However, of late, there have been some disturbing developments that threaten our unity in diversity. The time has come to find ways and means to strengthen relations between the various races and prepare ourselves to face the multiple challenges as our nations progresses. Racial unity should begin at home. Since parents are closest to their children, they should be at the forefront and sow the seeds of racial and religious tolerance among children. Parents should encourage their children to mix freely with their peers of other races and religions. This will allow children to understand the different traditions and cultures and be tolerant of those from other faiths and beliefs. Once parents are able to instill values of racial and religious tolerance among their children, it will take off naturally. Schools are the best places for students of different races to mingle freely without prejudice and suspicion. Students should learn about the different festivals their friends celebrate, their rites and rituals and their places of worship. It is only when they understand how others live will they also know how to treat them with respect and understanding. There are numerous activities in schools that provide opportunities for children to integrate such as sports and competitions. The various festivals celebrated by the different races are excellent opportunities to sow the seeds of unity. The concept of open houses is a unique feature that augments unity. The intermingling of the various races will contribute towards enhancing national unity. Despite more than 7 decades of independence, the country is still grappling with issues concerning race relationships. we must remember that these decades of nation-building can be erased if we allow racial tensions to build. Unity among the various races is vital for the progress of the nation as the saying goes, ‘Untied we stand, divided we fall

The Theory Of Psychology, Humanistic, Social Cognitive And...

Personality is defined as an individual’s unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking1. In psychology, personality is utilized to sum up all the ways of an individual’s thinking, feeling and acting that based on the environment and experience. Various personality theories exist and are categorized into four major perspectives—Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Social Cognitive and trait perspective. These four major perspectives on personality help to describe the numerous patterns in each individual’s personality. The first major theory in psychology is Psychoanalytic perspective which focuses on the importance of the unconscious mental process; the importance of sexual and aggressive instincts and the early childhood experiences on a personality. The psychoanalytic perspective was created by the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, who believed that things hidden in the unconscious part of the brain could be revealed in a number of different ways: through dreams, free association and slips of the tongue also referred to as â€Å"Freudian slips†. Second is Humanistic perspective, it emphasizes on psychological growth, free will and self-awareness. This perspective takes more of a â€Å"holistic† approach having a positive outlook on human nature and is centered on how an individual can attain their own potential and opposed the â€Å"negative† view of the psychoanalytic perspective which focused on the sexual unconscious and destructive instincts1. Carl Rogers was one of the most influentialShow MoreRelatedIs Personality Based On Science?986 Words   |  4 PagesThere has been many theories about personality as it has been viewed differently over the years. With personality, no two theories are the same just as no two individuals are. 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Not Sensible Examine Roe Without Operating Non Operating Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2413 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? As an investor, it is always better to examine RNOA in a deeper manner by placing further importance on the two components which are margin and turnover. RNOA = Net Operating Profit After Taxes / Average Net Operating Assets Which can be re-written as: RNOA = (Net Operating Profit Margin / Sales)   X (Sales / Net Operating Asset Turnover) Therefore: RNOA = Net Operating Profit Margin (NOPM)   X   Net Operating Asset Turnover (NOAT) Example: (Numbers assumed) Consider a big retail company as X Suppose we originally calculate Xs RNOA = NOPAT/Average NOA = $15,572/$109,894= 14.17% Say Net Operating Profit Margin (NOPM)= NOPAT/Revenue =$15,572/$401,196 = 3.88 % Here the NOPM seems to be small for a big retail player as it implies that for every dollar sale , X only earns 3.8 cents as the operating profit after tax. However, the margin alone does not make sense without considering the turnover figures. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Not Sensible Examine Roe Without Operating Non Operating Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Therefore lets consider: Net Operating Asset Turnover (NOAT) = Revenue/ Average NOA=$401,196/$109,894 = 3.65 Now, multiplying (NOPM) x (NOAT) = 3.88 x 3.65 = 14.17 % (The RNOA) Therefore a high margin firm does not ensure good returns for but it depends on the achieved turnover given the level of margin. Suppose the ROE for X is 19.87 % The operating returns for X =RNOA / ROE = 14.17/19.87 = 71.3% which is a very healthy figure. By calculating firms RNOA, we can seperate the portion of ROE arising due to operations of the business. ROE= Operating Return + Non operating Return. Investors and the management running the company should focus on the operating portion of return, which is Operating Return (RNOA) = Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT) / Average NOA Mostly companies break their operating results on their financials because management is judged based on the firms operating results. Also the debt to equity ratio should probably be monitor ed by investors. While analyzing a companys statement of cash flows, you notice that the cash balance decreased over a period. Explain and discuss why this is this is not necessarily bad for the company? (3 Points) Ans: Profit or loss indicates the results for a particular year or period of business. An Increase or Decrease in cash is liquidity during a period. Increase in cash always does not mean profit, it is only indicative of the fact that liquidity in shape of cash increased in comparison to cash balance as on the start of period/year. Therefore Profit/Loss and Increase/Decrease in cash are two different things in respect of a financial statement. Increase in assets decreases cash balance. Decrease in assets increases cash balance. Therefore the decrease in the cash balance may be because the company is acquiring more assets and possibly expanding its business, which is obviously not bad for the company , in fact the company seems to be growing. Ans: a. Why does Williams Sonoma add back depreciation to compute net cash provided by operating activities? Is depreciation a source of cash? The cash flow statement explains that if you made a profit where did the profit go. So depreciation and amortization that are not expenses that are paid in cash have to be added back as adjustments. For example when you sell a fixed asset say a vehicle you might get a check for $600 but have a value of what you paid for it less accumulated depreciation of a different amount. Therefore you have to adjust to represent why you have the money in a different value. Depreciation is added back as a reconciling item to net income when using the indirect method of cash flows. The net income was reduces by the depreciation expense without the effect of reducing your cash. Therefore, in order to reconcile net income to cash flows from operations, depreciation and similar non-cash expenses are added back. These other items to be added back include discount amortization and equity in earnings of an investment. Therefore the positive depreciation amount reported on the statement of cash flows is only one of the adjustments needed to convert the accrual net income to the cash provided from operating activities. So depreciation is not a source of cash. b. Williams Sonoma reports cash flows associated with accounts receivable. In 2007, this item is a cash inflow of $1,070 thousand and in 2006 this item is a cash outflow of $6,829. Explain why this item is on the statement. Why is it a cash inflow one year and a cash outflow the other year? Accounts receivable represent are the sales that have not been collected as cash yet. You sell your merchandise or services in exchange for a customers promise to pay you at a certain time in the future. If your business is credit based, then the payment of accounts receivable is likely to be the single most important source of cash inflows. The accounts receivable incr eases when the company sells merchandise or does a service on credit, and it decreases when the customer pays its bills. Therefore it can be a cash inflow one year and an outflow the other year. Accounts payable are debts that must be paid off within a given period of time in order to avoid default. For example, at the company level, it refers to short-term debt payments to suppliers and  banks. The accounts payable for Williams Sonoma decreased during the year  2006-07 as the value decreased from 14,365(2006) to 11,981 (2007). The cash flow statement (CFS) records the amounts of cash and cash equivalents entering and leaving a firm. The CFS allows investors and management to understand how the firms operations are running, where is the money coming from and on what is it being spent. Determinants of cash flow are core operations, investing and financing. The concept of profit is somewhat narrow, and only looks at income and expenses at a certain point i n time. Cash flow is more dynamic and is concerned with the movement of money in and out of a business. Cash flow is also concerned with the time at which the movement of the money takes place. Concept of cash flow is more realistic. Trade-Off between Margin and Turnover: A companys business model largely affects Operating Profit Margin (PM) and Net operating Asset Turnover (AT). Infinite number of combinations of net operating PM and net operating AT yields a given RNOA For capital intensive industries with relatively low operating AT there is a need for higher PM For food chains and retail businesses there are less assets but large AT and the PM is low and sufficient RNOA. It is important to be careful while comparing the performance of companies par industries. A capital intensive company must earn high PM to offset lower AT and achieve an equivalent RNOA. For an industry it is important to achieve an acceptable ROI to attract investors. Tradeoff between PM and AT is relatively straightforward when comparing companies in same industry ( called pure-form firms) However, Analyzing conglomerates more challenging: Conglomerates PM and AT rates are a weighted average of the PMs and AT rates for the various industries in which they operate. Formulae: ROE = operating RNOA + nonoperating activities RNOA = NOPM X NOAT DuPont Formula: Further breakdown gives: ROE Limitation: The DuPont formula is flawed in its  inability to separate the decisions regarding both operating and financing changes RNOA, successfully separates financing and operating decisions and measures their effectiveness. RNOA = Operating Income (After Tax) / Net Operating Assets (NOA) Therfore by isolating the NOA, correct conclusions can be drawn from the ratio analysis, thus repairing the flaw in the DuPont model. Isolating the components also means that changing debt levels do not change operating assets (OA), the profit before interest expense, and the RNOA. ROE = RNOA + (FLEV X Spread)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   OR   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   = Return From Operating Activities + Return From Non-Operating Activities (Financing) Effect of FLEV on ROE A company can increase its profit with the addition of debt, and thus its ROE. Then the reason for the increased ROE is that the company borrows certain amount and invests those funds in assets. FLEV = Av.NNO/ Av Equity NNO= Non operating (liabilities- assets) Higher FLEV means greater NNO which means higher liabilities than assets which is not good for the financial health of a firm. A restructuring charge is an expense for planned cost cuts..It includes cost of asset write downs, employee layoffs, facility closings etc. Thus it is an accrual made in advance of actual cash outlays. Restructuring charges dissipate shareholder wealth by reducing the shareholders claim on net assets and thus the amount of future potential dividends. Whether restructuring charges provide information or simply allow managers to manipulate future earnings numbers is the concern of SEC The pronouncements of SEC require greater detail about restructuring charges and asset write offs i n the annual report to enhance financial statement transparency. Effects on Financial statements: Income Statement: Adds an operating expense when the charge is taken. No expense when future cash outlays are made. Balance Sheet: Creates a restructuring liability when the charge is taken. The liability is reduced by amount of cash outlays when made. Cash Flow Statement: Non cash portion increases operating activities when charge is taken. Cash outlays when made decrease operating activities. Some firms include in restructuring charges costs more appropriately expensed as part of future operations. This will make future operations appear more profitable. Analysts can undo the timing of a charge either by (1) removing the after-tax effects of the charge from net income or (2) running expenditures through the income statement in the period they flow through the restructuring liability. A company would deliberately report revenues for sales on consignment as gr oss instead of net to boast the sales figures.A company might be having its net income running in negative figures but still it may show the gross revenues as very high which misleads the investors with regards to the financial performance of the company. Example: Priceline.com This is not a fair method of reporting these sales as it does not give a real picture of the companys standing in terms of the actual or net profit earned and may misguide the investors. For example a gas station may be selling a bread made by some other bakery. The gross of the revenues that the gas station will show will be as if the bread is owned by the gas station but it is actually owned by the bakery and majority of the profits must be going to the bakery.The gas station may only be a kind of franchisee. Gross Profit Margin illustrates to us how efficient the management is in using its labor and raw materials in the process of production. Firms with high gross profit margin are more liqu id and have more cash flow to spend on R D expenses, marketing etc. More efficient companies will usually see  higher gross profit margins. For example, suppose that a company earned a revenue of $20 million from production of Shoes and incurred $10 million in COGS-related expense. Its gross profit margin would be 50%. This means that for every dollar that the company earns on shoes, it has only $0.50 at the end of the day. Although higher GPM does not necessarily imply that the company is a better performer because GPM is a measure of gross profit and sales. GPM = Gross Profit / Sales Therefore GPM could be high if Gross profit is high but the sales are not high at all(since it is a ratio) .Poor sales is not a symbol of a good performance of the company. This metric  can be  used to compare a company with its competitors (same industry). The amount of sales generated for every dollars worth of assets. It is calculated by dividing sales in dol lars by assets in dollars. Formula: It measures  a firms efficiency at using its assets in generating sales or revenue the higher the number the better. It also indicates pricing strategy: companies with low profit margins tend to have high asset turnover, while  those with high profit margins have low asset turnover. The change indicates that from year 2007 to 2008 there is slight decrease in IBMs efficiency at using its assets in generating sales. The cost incurred is reported by the company itself so there is a fair chance that the company may manipulate the costs incurred in order to vary the revenue. Also a company might be incurring costs less than the estimated value and would want to cover up some other expenses. An analyst would be interested in researching it further because a company might have manipulated its cost incurred in a view to recognize more revenue.Also the cost estimates do not reflect the actual value of costs incurred and hence there might be a deviation from the actual value. Transitory items are one time occurrences and do not really have significant effect on the future financial performance of the company. These items can only temporarily increase earnings (example asset write offs) or temporarily increase expenses (example restructuring expenses) and do not have long term effects on the financial performance of a company. Transitory items are one time occurrences and do not really have significant effect on the future financial performance of the company. These items can only temporarily increase earnings (example asset write offs) or temporarily increase expenses (example restructuring expenses) and do not have long term effects on the financial performance of a company. When a company is doing really bad and has no chance of meeting earning expectations, unscrupulous management would begin writing-off every expense and asset they could imagine. As a result, future expenses are reduced signific antly and naturally earnings increase. In other words, the company is taking a big bath in the worst year so it can wipe its slate clean. This almost always guarantees record-breaking earnings in subsequent years. Because one-time charges could very well be valid, sniffing out the smell of big bath accounting is not easy. One thing to look out for is the frequency of big baths. If one-time charges begin to show up every other year, this becomes a worrisome pattern. It is, therefore, crucial for an investor to not just look at the current year financial reports. The company may have taken a big bath two years ago and is still basking in the glory attributed to their turnaround of the century. Investors should focus on the management transparency. If earnings seem to meet analyst expectations every quarter, it may just be too good to be true. Many respected money managers recommend investors to pay more attention to cash flow because this number is harder to manipulate. After all, cash flow is the basis for determining the intrinsic value of a business.