(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Oman's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has moved to block access to the anti-Islam film on YouTube that has sparked violence across the Muslim world.TRA confirmed in a statement that its technicians 'are searching for and blocking all links viewing the film'. A spokesman told Muscat Daily that TRA is currently working on blocking complete access, including direct and indirect links, to the movie. ''This process will take some time," he added.Of Oman's two major Internet service providers, Omantel was yet to issue a statement on the issue at the time of going to press while Nawras said that it has blocked all sites currently showing the video.''We can confirm that Nawras, working with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, has now blocked all sites currently showing the recently issued offensive video footage that goes against our Islamic culture and religion,'' Nawras said in a statement.''As always, we will continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary steps to block any additional sites at a later date, which are also considered offensive,'' it added.Meanwhile, Associated Press reported that UAE's telecommunication regulator has blocked access to the video and urged users to report any existing links to the country's Internet providers.Internet users in UAE searching by name for the film on YouTube, for example, now get a standard page used for other censored sites in the country saying 'this website is not accessible in the UAE', the report said.There are loopholes, though, since YouTube itself is not blocked and it is still possible to view the film by clicking recently posted links found within the site, it added.Interestingly, some news reports have also pointed to the possibility of the video available on YouTube being part of an elaborate fraud. ''First off, no one has been able to obtain a full-length copy of the film."The only evidence of its existence is in a 13.5 minute trailer on YouTube that is riddled with red flags,'' said a report on theatlanticwire.com.The report pointed to the low-quality production values and props used in the movie titled 'Innocence of Muslims', which was filmed privately in the US, and questioned its promoters' claims that it cost US5mn to produce.The clip available on YouTube, however, went on to spark a wave of violence across the Muslim world since last Tuesday, leading to the deaths of at least 19 people so far.
