Norwegian browser a Kazakh hit

14 Apr 2010, 6:01 am   -   Source: Reuters
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The Norwegian developed Opera browser made by Opera Software has increased its market share sharply in the ex-Soviet state. (File)

The Norwegian developed Opera browser made by Opera Software has increased its market share sharply in the ex-Soviet state. (File)

A browser developed in Norway has become the most popular way to access the Internet for Kazakhs who wish to bypass heavy censorship.

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A browser that bypasses censors has become the most popular way to access the Internet in Kazakhstan, a Web statistics firm said.

The Norwegian developed Opera browser made by Opera Software has increased its market share sharply in the ex-Soviet state since it began to allow downloads of compressed web pages via a server outside the country -- a feature designed to speed browsing.

The Opera browser is now the most popular in the country with a market share of 32 percent, beating out rival products from Google, Microsoft and Apple, according to statistics for March from Web analytics firm StatCounter.

The browser has increased its popularity by 60 percent in the past year alone, Opera Software said.

Kazakhstan introduced a law last year allowing local courts to block access to Web sites whose content has been deemed "illegal," a step that human rights groups say amounts to censorship.

Some of the most popular blogging websites such as Livejournal.com and Google-run Blogger.com are now inaccessible to most of Kazakhstan's 3.2 million Internet users.

Both Livejournal.com and Blogger.com host blogs run by opponents of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's leader for 20 years who wields sweeping powers and is never criticized by domestic mainstream media.

However, the new edition of Opera introduced last year, Opera 10, allows users to view otherwise inaccessible Web pages using its Opera Turbo feature designed to speed up browsing over slow connections.

Kazakhstan ranked among the world's top 10 countries by the number of Opera Turbo users in January, according to a report by Opera Software.

The Norwegian software developer, however, does not advertise the "anti-censorship" feature of its product or see it as its key to success in Kazakhstan.

"We link such growth to the release of several new versions of Opera 10.x within the last year that perform significantly better than our earlier products," Opera Software spokesman Vladimir Isayev said in an email.

"As for accessing blocked resources -- we do not comment on that.

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Your Comments

Problem with Opera

Person - from Brisbane, 3 years ago

In reply to Dave, The biggest barrier to greater adoption of the Opera browser is that it is not open source. That is why many people prefer the likes of Firefox and Chrome. Cheers.

Opera cannot win

ray - from Melbourne, 3 years ago

Opera's proxy [for chinese version] was forced to move to China when the Chinese govt found out it could be used to bypass filtering.

Torn

Alex - from Hobart, 3 years ago

As a long time Opera fan boi I'm now very torn. I think I might have to support Conroy's filter now since gets people using Opera(which they would be already if they had half a brain).

Soulmates?

Duke - from Central Coast, 3 years ago

At last Conroy has an intellectual equal to compare filters with...Borat! vary nayse filta for gloryus stop of naked donkey

Opera is an excellent browser

Dave - from Melbourne, 3 years ago

It's feature rich, stable, and MUCH smaller than the fanboi loved Firefox. I don't know why there's so little love for it. "Opera Turbo" is great over dialup - it actually does make a difference.

Listening yet, Conroy?

Scott - from Brisbane, 3 years ago

This is interesting, what's to stop this happening here in Australia? Yet another way to bypass Conroy's ridiculous filtering plan. I assume it's using a hard-coded proxy or some similar technique. This might not be ideal in itself for privacy issues, but it still highlights another simple way to bypass a web filter. I suppose Opera.com will get on the blocked list, too? Surely this filtering plan is getting so much opposition that it can't go ahead. I live in hope.

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