An anonymous New Zealand internet user has responded to the Ministry of Health's block on Havana House of Cigars'
website by mirroring it overseas.
The mirror, available at http://www.geocities.com/mirroract , contains the banned sites' front page and advertising, but not the ecommerce functions. It also includes a
downloadable archive of the site enabling other internet users to set up similar mirrors.
Mirroring is a common internet response to attempts to ban material. The idea is to set up enough copies that censorship
becomes impractical - akin to attacking a hydra which grows two heads for each one severed.
The mirror has been set up to remind the government of the futility of censorship in the internet age, as well as
protest attempts to extend the Smokefree Environments Act to supress a wider range of material, such as cigar-review
columns and online stores.
"Basicly, even smokers deserve freedom of speech".
Released Anonymously