Egypt regulates mass SMSes

Egypt has passed a new law stating that organisations sending out mass SMSes (known as SMS aggregators) will have to obtain permits from the government. All very well if the country is trying to curb commercial spam, but it appears to be a barely concealed crackdown on opposition political movements ahead of this year's elections. A licence to send such messages will reportedly cost $88,000. We forecast an increase in Twitter's popularity in Egypt. Read more: AP, via News24