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Five Webloggers Jailed In Iran

Free Speech Geek writes "Reporters Without Borders recently published an article titled 'Five Webloggers Jailed' on their Web site. In this article, they list the names of 5 Iranians who have recently been jailed for no other reason than the fact that they published Web logs that were critical of the government. This story is timely because the UN has recently convened a 'UN Working Group on Internet Governance' and one of their key agenda items seems to be to take over the Domain Name System from ICAAN. One can't help but noting that the Iranian delegate to the UN is on the UN Working Group and conclude that control of the DNS is going to be the next big battleground for freedom of speech." (These arrests follow those reported in mid-October.)

21 comments

  1. UN controll over DNS... by zulux · · Score: 1, Troll


    No fucking way.

    ICANN sucks but the UN is a corrupt and filled with pompous idiots. Next thing you know, the Secretary General's son will own your domain name, and you'll have to pay his Swiss lords a monthly fee to use it.

    I'll take the regular idiots at ICANN, thank you.

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

    1. Re:UN controll over DNS... by BovineSpirit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Next thing you know, the Secretary General's son will own your domain name, and you'll have to pay his Swiss lords a monthly fee to use it.
      Can you give any examples of similer things happening in the past?

    2. Re:UN controll over DNS... by zulux · · Score: 1

      Can you give any examples of similer things happening in the past?


      Yes.

      The Secertary General's son worked for a Swiss company that was monitoring the Iraq oil-for-food program. The old-for-food program was corrupt, and could be better descriped as an oil-for-palaces program.

      more info

      --

      Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

    3. Re:UN controll over DNS... by zulux · · Score: 1

      No fucking way.

      ICANN sucks but the UN is a corrupt and filled with pompous idiots. Next thing you know, the Secretary General's son will own your domain name, and you'll have to pay his Swiss lords a monthly fee to use it.

      I'll take the regular idiots at ICANN, thank you.

      --

      Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

    4. Re:UN controll over DNS... by flyneye · · Score: 0, Troll

      Hmmm,I agree but one of my favorite adages;"Get the U.S. out of the U.N. and get the U.N. out of the U.S." still sounds better than" Get the internet out of the U.N. and the the U.N. off the internet".
      How about just plain old:
      Disband the U.N. in the name of Peace!
      or
      Save the Internet,Kill a U.N. official!
      or lets just get proactive and put the U.N. on a small Pacific Island with no communications,boats or aircraft,mine the waters around the island and let the U.N. delegate dictate and masturbate to their hearts content while the world prospers without them.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  2. The Diff? by splungent · · Score: 1

    Reading some stuff on the INTERNET, and in the NY Times these days I was under the impression that here in America we were the 'official police state of the world'. Now I see the difference! We don't jail people for there speech. Well at least not yet although I biddy that some people wish we could.

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    ./what?
  3. Interesting conclusions... by Gadzinka · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I don't see how governing DNS by international body could be any worse than current situation where it is governed by private entity incorporated in US. Remember that PSTN is governed by international body, ITU, and it works.

    One way or another, I don't see a connection between jailing bloggers in Iran and the question of DNS governance. I guess, every opportunity is good to sell your agenda.

    Robert

    PS Is this perhaps something related to "Chewbacca defence"? ;)

    PPS Ceterum censeo Karthaginem esse delendam ;)

    --
    Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
    1. Re:Interesting conclusions... by sconeu · · Score: 1

      No, the ITU sets *standards* for the PSTN. It does not *govern* or set policy.

      In the US, the FCC does that.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  4. What do you expect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You live in Iran for Jebus sakes! I would expect the same thing if you lived in China!

    The US of A should invade and liberate these oppressed peoples!

  5. That's not all by squiggleslash · · Score: 1
    I heard of this guy who bought this game and found it didn't work on his PC and he couldn't get his money back because of some law passed by the government, and this is relevent because, like, the government has a representative on the UN and the UN is planning to take over DNS.

    Seriously, to use a case of political persecution in Iran to attack the notion that the UN should have anything to do with DNS reaches a new low level, especially as the UN, for better or worse, has strived in the past (and would continue to do without the blocking actions of certain major security council members *cough* France *cough* United States) to use its might to deal with human rights abusers. Indeed, one of the first documents to come out of the UN was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    The UN isn't perfect, but to suggest that a global system should be run by a single country - and one that right now has an absurdly parochial government with a recent history of human rights abuses - instead of an international entity beggars belief.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  6. Two words by antizeus · · Score: 2, Informative
    --
    -- $SIGNATURE
    1. Re:Two words by dszd0g · · Score: 1

      Sherman Austin admitted to defacing corporate web sites and leaving behind a program that attempted access to military computers. His political views and linking to instructions on making bombs are only part of the case. It is pretty clear that he was involved in illegal activities.

      --
      This message is encrypted with Quad ROT-13 to protect the author's copyright under the DMCA.
  7. excerpts from censored blog entries by S.+Baldrick · · Score: 0

    ...OMG (the compassionate, the merciful) today during ullulating practice that bitch Fatima was totally wearing the same Burqa as me... ...Like Zionism is that like the lamest or what? ROFL... ...Mrs. Sheik Fadlallah Mr. and Mrs. Fadlallah Mohammed Hussein Dreamboat Fadlallah...

  8. The UN's constituents are governments not people by FreeUser · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No fucking way.

    ICANN sucks but the UN is a corrupt and filled with pompous idiots. Next thing you know, the Secretary General's son will own your domain name, and you'll have to pay his Swiss lords a monthly fee to use it.

    I'll take the regular idiots at ICANN, thank you.


    I concurr.

    The UN as a mechanism to facilitate inter-government communication and consensus is invaluable. But it it a profound mistake for anyone to look to the UN for anything more than occasional, unreliable, passing help on any humanitarian issue, be it prevention of disease (by far their best effort of any), prevention of genocide (Dafur, Ruanda, Kosovo, etc.), or freedom.

    People forget that the UN's constituency is governments, not people, and that the majority of those governments are corrupt, repressive, and kill scores of said people. Even if the US were a perfect democracy (it is anything but), its constituents are by and large repressive, corrupt, and often murderous regimes.

    Bush's anti-UN stance is terrible -- the UN is the best mechanism for diplomacy and international consensus there is. But as a world government the UN would be far worse than the Bush regime ... or just about any other regime, for that matter. Food-for-oil scandals, the blind eye being turned toward [insert any of several hundred genocidal atrocities committed by member states over the last fifty years], and the empowerment of governments at every level over that of people, human rights' charter notwithstanding, and you get a taste of what will come should the UN begin to control human issues directly, including that of internet speech vis-a-vis the DNS domain name system.

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  9. mod parent UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Very interesting. When it happens in Iran, everyone's up in arms about how evil those bastards are. But when it happens here... I mean, how many of you have even heard of this guy before?

    1. Re:mod parent UP by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 1

      "Results 1 - 10 of about 998,000 for sherman austin"

      Looks like a lot, eh? Lots of people have been improperly persecuted for speeking freely in the United States, but we the people generally reform the system in their favor. THAT'S the difference.

  10. ya wot??? by Gizmoguy · · Score: 1

    I think they hae a point. No WAY the UN are taking over ICANN. OK it's not that cool, but the UN? There a bunch of imbociles as far as I'm concerned.

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    -- There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, And those who don't.
    1. Re:ya wot??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh man! "hae a point" and "There a bunch of imbociles"? Do I even need to say anything?

  11. I agree. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Way to be an asshole on this one TIMMAH, as usual you are way off. As a bonus, I'll use your 'reasoning' here.

    The American gov't has done some crazy whack shit these days. Many slashdot editors are American. Therefore, they must be stopped, as they will certainly do crazy whack shit. Because, you know, the actions of your gov't totally control your actions and opinions. Or something. Moron.

  12. Don't throw stones even if he says Jehovah! Ouch! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Goverment control in Iran tries to be as strong as it can be. Lot of army, policemen guarding religious behaviour and dressing, complete control of TV and radio, satellite signal jamming during news etc. And everywhere are large pictures of Khomeyni and the other guy, rigorously staring at you.

    I've spent about ten days in Iran during a business travel and it impressed me and scared me a lot. Everything there looks quite similar to totalitarian regimes in former communistic countries, however Marx and Lenin doctrine has been replaced with Islam.

    I'm so glad I'm living in central Europe!

  13. Freudian typo? by FreeUser · · Score: 1

    Even if the US were a perfect democracy (it is anything but), its constituents are by and large repressive, corrupt, and often murderous regimes.

    Gurr! That should of course read:

    Even if the UN were a perfect democracy (it is anything but), its constituents are by and large repressive, corrupt, and often murderous regimes.

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy