ABBOTTABAD, May 26: Internet cafe owners have criticized a decision taken by the provincial government, directing them to remove multimedia and CD drives from the computers installed at the clubs.

Sajjad Ali, president of IT and internet cafes union Abbottabad, while speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, said that instead of taking action against those Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who allow access to prohibited and pornography sites, the government imposed a ban on the use of CD drives in the computers at internet cafes.

He said internet cafe owners were already following a code of ethics and had banned the entry of students and those below 12 years of age, into the outlets during school timings.

Mr Ali said that on the one hand the government directed the internet cafe owners not to play music in the cafes, while on the other it had allowed cable operators to show Indian songs and movies.