June 1996: The Philippine Internet Service Organization (PISO)

The Philippine Internet Service Organization (PISO) was formed with Albert Velasco of (Mailstation Net) as the first president.  This was the fruit of discussions among ISP officers since late 1995.  The ph-isp mailing list served as the online forum for these initial discussions.  On August 20, the officers and trustees were inducted in Malacañang by President Fidel V. Ramos.

  

1996: ISP Sky Internet

ISP Sky Internet (http://www.skyinet.net/) put up an IRC chat room called "The Lounge" which became popular among the local community.

The cCyberspace Live ISP/online service established "eForums", the first local web-based forum and discussion system.  This was a precursor to the web-based bulletin boards that became popular in the late 90´s.

Sky Internet in 1996

1996: Internet censorship

Internet censorship started to spark interest among governments and legislators around the world.  The Philippine Senate called for a hearing on pornographic materials on the Internet, and summoned Internet pioneers to testify.  DOST Secretary William Padolina declares that he would rather "err on the side of freedom" when faced with censorship issues.