There are 1,000 Internet users, most of whom are foreigners. There are two cybercafes in the capital, Vientiane, but Laotians are not allowed in. The connection of Myanmar, formerly Burma, to the Internet remains similarly tenuous. All modems must be registered with the government, which is run by the military, Dr. Sadowsky said. Neither Laos nor Myanmar had representatives at the conference.
Immigration policies can make it hard for people to get to the conference.
Two Cubans were invited to participate in the workshop, but one was not given a visa and because of that, the other stayed home. A person from Sudan was registered for the conference and had a visa but was detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in New York, then sent back to Sudan. Anh arrived in California without incident. He said Vietnam got its first Internet connection in late 1997. Before that, computer users could send e-mail but could not go out on the Web.