Three years ago, Ethiopian writers and journalists launched a blog called Zone9 to denounce censorship practices in Ethiopia. The name refers to a jail in Addis Ababa where prisoners were divided depending on the crime committed; since zone8 was destined to political prisoners, bloggers created Zone9 to allude to their whole country as a virtual prison. Zone9’s nightmare started after launching their blog when, ironically, a blogger is arrested due to an article where he reported the government habit of arresting journalists that criticise its conduct. After this event, other six Zone9 bloggers are charged with terrorism and related activities. Unfortunately, they are not the only bloggers and journalists behind bars. All over the world, the number of nations with an authoritarian approach to internet issues is dangerously growing. They often overreact justifying their conduct with public order concerns while it’s often an excuse to hide their fears of losing power. Recently examples are media conviction and policy developments in Syria, Egypt, North Korea, Cuba, China and, unexpectedly, even certain e-surveillance regulations of western countries such as the United Kingdom. Ethiopia is just an emblematic case. The government has amended the law so that it’s easy to fall under provisions originally born to fight terrorism and be accused of illegal activities. Back to Zone9 situation, bloggers have been alleged with various crimes including attending technical trainings on how to use software to circumvent e-surveillance laws and accusations of having established a secretive organization - contradicted by the public nature of the blog. To strictly control access to internet, Ethiopian executive operates a state-monopoly on telecommunication networks so to practice an efficient, pervasive and massive surveillance on his citizens. People who want internet access have to afford incredibly high fares or have to connect through controlled internet cafés; this has pushed an increasing number of people to buy technologies able to protect and anonymise their online traces. The gLAWcal Team LIBEAC project Wednesday, 29 October 2014 (Source: Global Voices)