Viber blocked on Lebanese 3G

yasamoka wroteI just got a "Hey yasamoka! Remember: don't create topics to rant and complain. Use Facebook instead." suggestion in the quick post box.

It seems this suggestion system is quite smart. How did this discussion shift from a technical one to a bunch of rants and conspiracy theories, hell if I know.

Chill, people. Take a breath.

Technical? There wasn't any "Technical" difficulties, they've just decided on it.

I've never used Viber before, but I just hate how the Lebanese government takes such decisions so lightly. I mean we always end up missing on great stuff just because some Israeli farted on it somewhere somehow. Sadly, we, as the citizens, are the only ones to blame.

Hi everyone,
This is an official representative of Viber Media. We’re here to answer your questions and address your concerns :)

– Regarding the points raised in the article and the doubts expressed by the users:

Viber is based in Cyprus with development facilities in Israel and Belarus. Servers are all over the world, but the ones storing the data (the “database”) are in the US

Viber is a 100% commercially-run company, and has nothing to do with any government or governmental institute, including the Israeli one.

– In relation to Viber’s privacy policy:

First, it is important to be accurate – we only collect names and phone numbers, nothing else. Naturally, we collect users’ information for functional reasons, in order for us to enable the service that we, as a company, promise to provide. Without that information, Viber cannot function. This is not different from any other major social network/communication service provider in our world nowadays, as explained by other users in the above comments.

I would like to clarify: we *do not* and will never sell users’ information to third-parties, and we keep this information well locked in our servers, with extremely limited access to it. This information (in great detail) is explained in our very clear and transparent Privacy Policy – to which we are committed by law – that can be found in our official homepage. Have you taken a close look at it?

Lastly, regarding why Viber is free:

Currently, Viber’s focus is on adding platforms, features and integrating with more platforms, as well as improving overall system performance. At the same time, we are working on additional premium services that will generate revenue once they become available. The basic Viber service – Viber-to-Viber phone calls and text messages – will always be free.

We believe this model is not different from most other services you use on a daily basis. Is it not? ;)

If after reading it carefully there are still doubts or questions, then we will be more than happy to assist and clarify and answer any of them.

If you still have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to write them, and we will address them shortly :)

Best regards,
Viber.

Hey there, thanks for taking the time to clarify your position and answer these accusations. Most people feel that the block on Viber is motivated by profit; there's a very strong market in international phone calls in Lebanon (a country with a very large worldwide diaspora) and the current duopoly reigning over this market is lobbying to spread FUD and pass laws to protect their business.

It's really nice to hear you communicate about it and I hate to be this guy but... proof you're a real Viber rep?