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In Censorship Move, Iran Plans Its Own Internet
An anonymous reader writes "Iran is taking steps toward an aggressive new form of censorship: a so-called national Internet that could, in effect, disconnect Iranian cyberspace from the rest of the world (summary of paywalled WSJ report). The leadership in Iran sees the project as a way to end the fight for control of the Internet, according to observers of Iranian policy inside and outside the country. Iran, already among the most sophisticated nations in online censoring, also promotes its national Internet as a cost-saving measure for consumers and as a way to uphold Islamic moral codes."
The article also mentions unconfirmed local press reports suggesting that Iran is building its own national operating system.
in Iran.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
MohammeDOS?
Sure seems like the technological savvy of Iran would be pushing private, wireless, encrypted, mesh networking as a means to counter these efforts. For Iranians, censorship is but one of their their problems. Communication and control is the leadership's real desire. Censorship is just a means to an end - control.
No, that was in fact quoting the Fox News article verbatim.
Even if we don't like copyright, we like correct attribution, right guys?
"disconnect Iranian cyberspace from the rest of the world (summary of paywalled WSJ report)".
Oh snap.
What stops people from setting up tunnels into the worldwide internet?
unfortunately this second attempt will be owned by the censors.
unfortunately this second attempt will be owned by the censors.
The censors would be both government and big business.
they cross breed and pollinate with each other, and therefore survive and prosper. when cultures wall themselves off in isolation, they wither and die. you can't preserve your country by locking it up. that's a recipe for obsolescence
iranian govt: you want persian minds to grow up in an echo chamber, unaware of the wider world. which simply means you want persian minds to be inferior minds. you are also extremely condescending and insulting to your own people: you don't think that they can handle exposure to other cultures. you think they will lose their persianness, as if iran is a weak thing that will go *POOF* at the first exposure to the decadent west. well, considering your street protests you brutally suppressed in 2009, you are close: the iranian GOVERNMENT is weak and will go *POOF* when it's people see how much better it is without your control freak nature at the helm. soon enough, you ignorant, arrogant assholes, your people will understand the problem is not the decadent west, but YOU
you would rather hobble your own people than liberalize the iranian government. all you do is hurt iran, just because you are insecure
long live iran: death to its feeble govt
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The Internet is a specific network. It is this network. That we're communicating on right now. They're not making "their own internet" any more than Android made "their own iPhone".
Iran, already among the most sophisticated nations in online censoring...
I read until I got to this, and then stopped, because of how ludicrously incorrect this is. Oh wait, it's from Fox news. That explains it.
Just file it under yet another example of the Iran's absurd, paradoxical sense of governance highlighting their poor sense of irony. It's almost as if they want to educate their populace and then send them abroad to work and live elsewhere. They encourage denial of employment to women, yet allow them to seek higher education. They encourage rigorous university standards to discourage men from using college to avoid conscription. Couple this with a failed economy and what do they get? A highly educated youth populace with nothing to do but emigrate or rebel. These days getting accepted to Tehran University is just a ticket to go abroad on scholarship, how is taking away internet going to help any of this? The government may think they're exercising a technocracy here, but it's only going to create more incentive for young Iranians to develop their subversiveness. And every day that the '79 revolution falls farther behind them, the old guard find themselves in less of a position to use propaganda to cover their asses. The future for Iran may look pretty bright yet.
China is a good teacher in censoring internet.
I know, you could call it
*long drawn out drum roll*
Iran-ternet
Summation 2
Iran Operating System with Ahmadinejad Permitted Program store?
Can't have it both ways. You either have science and the advantages of the internet, or you have censorship control. The more of the latter, the less of the former. This is why Germany and USSR had so many scientists defect, the lesser educated people (thugs) get into government command and control, and the more educated (professors and scientists and students) dislike the jock overlords. They find ways either out or around. Then both the thugs and the scientists go home for the day and try to find out how to download Israeli porn.
Gently reply
The country and regime couldn't survive that. But if they want to: Good luck in your little bubble Iran.
They will call the new OS Khomeinix.
Who ever overthrew their government without outside help ? Even the US got some support from France (most famously from Lafayette.) We should care what happens on the inside.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
History suggests that deliberate isolation is a route to stagnation. North Korea today, pre-1850s Japan and so on. Which agrees with my intuition. The do not see how central sharing or date (much of it trivial, but some of it crucial) has become to modern industry. I see it as (another) sign of a pretty sick government.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
Some of the best and brightest people I know are from Iran. They work hard, pay lots in taxes, stay married, and raise loving stable families. The USA is a better country because they are here. Hopefully this nonsense in Iran will help us attract even more great Iranians to live their lives here, contributing to the USA rather than the Mullahs in Iran.
Make my own internet. With hookers. and blackjack.
Wait. forget the hookers and blackjack. those are illegal in iran.
No but you mary someone for half an hour (in exchange for an appropriate "dowry" of course) then go out into the street for some three card monte. So it's all good.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
There already is a Linux distro called Sabily Linux which has Muslim software and internet filtering software on it. Maybe they will use that one lol.
How many IPv4 addresses will this free up?
Well, nothing shrieks of despair like such move. In fact, we should not say that "Iran" does it, it is it's desperate "we will have Islam superstate yo" regime. They are so removed from reality that it feels like they are on their way to become second North Korea (hate ideology, armed to teeth, etc.)
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
Does this mean we can reclaim their IPv4 address space? Forget their oil, we want their IP addresses!
The Iranian people are generally nice and progressive, it's their government that sucks. So go fuck yourself, I'm sure your country (whichever) has some assholes in charge itself.
how do you have the sort of educated populace that the super wealthy want to take care of them and build cool stuff for them, and keep them poor and ignorant? I guess this is a good start. China's having a big problem with their huge (250m+) middle class. If you educate them enough that their brains work for stuff like liver transplants and doing the architecture on your 15000 sq/ft mansion then they usually start questioning why you've got it so good and their living in a dirt shack...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
"On Friday, new reports emerged in the local press that Iran also intends to roll out its own computer operating system in coming months to replace Microsoft Corp.'s Windows."
Iranix?
We're gonna create our own Internet! With blackjack and hookers! ...And the hookers! we're a theocracy, dammit!
In fact, forget the Internet and the blackjack!
You going off to start your own internet? hm? without hookers and blackjack?
-Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
"Oh yeah, we'll just make our own internet, without blackjack or hookers. Oh, wait, why would we do that?"
Well, if you think you can improve the odds of truly controlling access to the Internet, then a government controlled gateway(s) from your network, with its own protocols, to the Internet might be a way to try. But what is the Internet, but a network of networks. As soon as there are gateways, and there will be, then it is functionally part of the Internet. Maybe just with slow access (oh boy!). Some win for not invented here control freaks.
How will it end?
Are you seriously suggesting that everyone who doesn't like the way his country is ran should just leave?
Just sever the ties that link them to the homeland - to the relatives, the job, the environment they grew up in - the culture, language, the graves of ancestors - leave behind the old friends and old enemies, take their family and memories and become... who?
A fugitive? Unwelcome guest? Jobless, homeless, at the mercy of international organizations, with unclear prospects and still a family to care for.
Of course there are those who managed to build a new life after leaving their country. After a time, most emigrees adapt. But at what cost? How many nights sleepless from worry, how many insults thrown at them and their children, how many degrading job interviews where your exotic medical diploma is worth less than a local plumber's certificate?
And that's after one manages to flee the country, not a simple task in itself.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
I am gonna make my own internet with gambling, hookers and booze.... actually, forget the gambling
you do realize that governments are made of human beings, just like you, and not some alien species. because you speak of govt as if they have some sort of money grubbing gene the rest of us don't have. no, there's nothing special about these thuggish regimes in the world like in iran. look in the mirror: everything you despise about government is inside you, inside all of us. government is us, all of our follies, writ large. when it succeeds, it is because of our best qualities, our common best qualities. when it fails, it is because of our own low qualities as well, just as common. there's nothing bizarre or exotic about govts in this world. these thuggish leaders wake up each morning and sit on a toilet, just like you. it may be a gold toilet, but that just means their ass is colder. don't exoticize power. it's really quite mundane when you get right down to it
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I read somewhere that there are more books translated into Spanish in a year than have been translated into Arabic EVER. How else can you keep your 16th century mentality intact? (With apologies to my Iranian friends who don't deserve the current political situation.)
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
Leave, put up with it, revolt, die, or be killed. There really aren't a lot of good choices.
This will require hardware to set up, and Iran sure as hell doesn't make their own. Is it any way feasible to keep the manufacturers and resellers from providing / supporting the gear?
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
How about: work to bring about a change?
On a sunny Sunday in the 1980s I was sitting on a park bench pretending to read a sf novel. Actually I was counting people coming into the election office. After an hour I went home and I assume someone else took over. I called a friend and mentioned a number in the conversation. The data was relayed further, and together with other bits of information collected from other inconspicuous looking young people it gave the underground opposition proof it needed to verify that the turnout was way lower than the government claimed. And to spread the word around the country and the world.
I was just a little pebble in the way of an avalanche. I didn't overthrow the regime.
But together, we did.
We wouldn't have had a chance to do it had we left the country, although many of those who emigrated contributed to the work in other ways.
I can just see it now. What'll they do over there after they have their squeaky-clean halal Internet? What'll they do for entertainment?
Imagine that -- Iranian camwhores, scandalizing the nation by lifting their burkas a whole inch above their ankles, to the shock and amusement of all.
I think this is actually a good idea. I'm not a supporter of censorship, but if you can set the whole censorship idea aside, think about it. They are essentially considering making an islamic internet. A darknet, relative to the common global internet. This isn't really such a bad idea for them. It would allow them to regulate the content on their internet, to create their own "walled garden" as the popular catchphrase of late describes. I could see other conservative islamic states like saudi arabia etc linking in to this and it flourishing.
Lets face it, right now they have a system of values that's not very compatible with the non-islamic world, and the internet is all about free exchange of information and ideas, which makes it something of a blessing and a curse at the same time. It connects them together in a way they want, but to the world in a way they [b]don't[/b] want. IslamNET would solve that problem for them. Remember, this isn't a case of the government trying to censor off what the majority of their citizens want. (like China) Here, MOST of them would prefer it this way. Us trying to stick our heads into this discussion really isn't appropriate. You may not agree with it, but that's the values system they've been raised in and that's how their society works, and we need to respect that, even if we don't agree with it or don't think it's what's best for them.
It wouldn't be too difficult to make gateways on the internet for passing specific traffic, business-related things etc. It'd be like a firewall with a default-deny policy. Really the whole concept isn't too different than a company's intranet. Complaining about IslamNET isn't too far off from complaining about your company's firewall not allowing you to get on IRC.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
There's a HUGE difference between a theocracy (and an islamic theocracy *stones* people, mainly women) and a few (or even a lot) religious politicians.
You know the stoning story from the Bible ? Where Jesus saves the woman. Well here's the islamic version :
Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that a Jew and a Jewess were brought to allah's messenger who were accused of committing adultery. Allah's messenger came to the Jews and said: What do you find in Torah for one who commits adultery? They said: We darken their faces and make them ride on the donkey with their faces turned to the opposite direction (and their backs touching each other), and then they are taken round (the city). He said: Bring Torah if you are truthful. They brought it and recited it until when they came to the verse pertaining to stoning, the person who was reading placed his hand on the verse pertaining to stoning, and read (only that which was) between his hands and what was subsequent to that. Abdullah b. Salim who was at that time with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Command him (the reciter) to lift his hand. He lifted it and there was, underneath that, the verse pertaining to stoning. Allah's messenger pronounced judgment about both of them and they were stoned. Abdullah ibn 'Umar said: I was one of those who stoned them, and I saw him (the Jew) protecting her (the Jewess) with his body.
Now imagine this being law. And that's just the beginning.
Never let a muslim tell you differently : following the paedophile prophet means following that story. It is the duty of every muslim (if he's male) to impose those punishments, everywhere, which obviously includes western countries, and there is -zero- disagreement under muslims about this. There is disagreement, however, on whether a muslim can lie about this to protect himself, 3/4th of islam thinks it is, the taliban "school" thinks it isn't.
Btw why don't we call the religion by it's English name ? "islam" translates simply to "submit" in the sense of "conquer" (as in, the actual word generally used is "submit", but not self-submission, which is another word, "islam" is a command you could give to someone that means he is to force someone to submit. If a general were to order some refugees out of a country, and he would order his soldiers to do whatever it takes to force them to comply. That order could be given in arabic by the word "islam")
Do you really think the military will go "oh noes, this network is decentralized, they've foiled our plans!".
Wake up from your fluffy game world. All it takes to combat this is to start making examples of people, using pain and death. You are isolated from that, so you think it is real easy to simply press a few keys. They have to deal with the very REAL possibility of torture. Your armchair bravery shows a real lack of understanding of serious world matters.
Iran "bans" satellite television, too. But everyone there has a dish, and they all saw Iron Man II before you did.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Wasn't there a company that was trying to buy a satellite so they could move it into geostationary orbit over repressive countries to give the people there internet access?
Technoli
How useful is the internet without its content? If they're making their own internet, then we're talking more than just blocking content, the only content available will be hosted in Iran so basically it will be useless until they develop all the content. Hell, they're probably working on the Iranian Slashdot right now!
In Iranian Slashdot content blocks you!
"In fire."
So, something like IranOS, Windows for Mullahs, Persia120 (like Xbox360, but with a smaller angle and the novel new BLACK ring of death)?
Or perhaps a custom version of Linux called Red Turban? (China already has Red Flag Linux, so there's precedent...)
I'm gonna build my own Internet, with Blackjack and Hookers. In fact, forget the Internet.
www.meneguzzi.eu/felipe
I guess each country will have their own internet ...which will have most of what is wanted by the people's search minus "tainted" information.
Each country will then think to offer another countries internet stuff, by charging more....just another way the big pig companies to make their money
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"