Slashdot Mirror
Iran Plans To Unplug the Internet, Launch Its Own 'Clean' Alternative
suraj.sun writes "Iran topped a recent list of repressive regimes that most aggressively restrict Internet freedom. The list, published by Reporters Without Borders, is a part of the 2012 edition of the organization's Enemies of the Internet report. One of the details addressed in that report is the Iranian government's bizarre plan to create its own 'clean' Internet. The proposed system, an insular nation-wide intranet that is isolated from the regular Internet, will be heavily regulated by the government. In addition to developing its own Intranet system, the Iranian government is also creating its own custom email service and a national search engine called Ya Haq (Oh Just One) that is intended to replace Google. In order to obtain an account on the state-approved mail service, users will have to register their identity with the government." The "clean Internet" part, at least, was also mentioned earlier this year; Iran is one of the recurring champions when it comes to such dubious honors.
the organization's http://en.rsf.org/beset-by-online-surveillance-and-12-03-2012,42061.htmlEnemies of the Internet report.
For those who can't use copy/paste - Enemies of the Internet report.
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"
You never should have built this thing with a single power plug! Redundant power sources I told you!
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
... taken to its logical conclusion.
And the Iranians have only themselves to blame for fostering and tolerating religious and political extremism in their midst.
America, take note.
... just cut the international trunks. What will be more interesting is if they start to use duplicated IPv4 address space, or continue the move to IPv6. The "Iranian Spring" will come, and this action is likely to speed that up. Then it will get connected back to the world, again.
Of course, someone will still set up some secret gateways.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
http://vancouverdesi.com/news/iran-denies-reports-internet-to-be-cut-soon/
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
At first I thought that “Oh Just One” referred to the fact that there can be only one search engine (as in “there can be just one”), but I’m fairly sure it means “O Just One” in the sense of a person who is just, based on my limited Arabic.
Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
Oh, Just One. It's right there in the name.
Persia OnLine.
("Anti-America OnLine" may be too obvious.)
The proposed system, an insular nation-wide intranet that is isolated from the regular Internet, will be heavily regulated by the government. In addition to developing its own Intranet system, the Iranian government is also creating its own custom email service and a national search engine
So it is the Iranian version of Facebook.
This is the best possible news for freedom in the here in the US. What? You want to cut off parts of the internet, why that would make us just like Iran! We can't have that! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph!
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
As far as a "clean" internet goes it does have some merit. The real internet is 35% porn.It is defensible to want a cleaner, walled garden version of it. Maybe Iran could just use AOL.
We are all just people.
Come relax, talk amongst yourselves...here I'll give you topic, "My neighbor is a dissident and here is his address"
Police states should abandon all pretenses of being anything but police states. There are too many simple people that don't know a duck even if it's quacking in front of them so long as it's wearing a little badge that says "republic". Why Iran has any credibility in the international community is owed only to greed (for the oil), ignorance, and the naive belief that psychopathic messianic dictatorships can be reformed with kind words.
I'm not saying we go to war with them. I'm just saying you treat them like what they are and always will be. If they want to dominate what little freedom remains in their nation by creating some hyper controlled internet, then all the better.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Not sure if troll or serious. In any case, you fail.
UK, USA, Australia... also trying to censor the internet. The USA is probably worst in that instead of setting up their own "Intranet", they are actually imposing their own authority all over the world.
Also, the government of Iran is not the same thing as "Muslims".
Finally, Islam is hardly the only religion that is threatened by free access to information.
"Mommy, what was God doing before he created the universe?"
"He was preparing Hell for people who ask such questions. Now say a Hail Mary and go to bed!"
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
You've been listening to too much propaganda. Here in reality, elected conservatives have never held back from expanding the role of government when given the chance to do so. It's what politicians do. They see it as their job.
In the USA left and right both have zero tolerance for the practices of those they perceive as their cultural enemies. Conservatives lead the charge to persecute artists, flag burners and gays, liberals lead the charge to persecute gun owners and racial separatists. Both sides are willing to trample individuals at the drop of a hat - remember, we're talking about reality here, not rhetoric. Conservatives and liberals all voted for the orwellian Patriot Act.
If you believe in the right to own military-grade weapons, but you aren't a racist; and you think abortion kills an unborn child, yet still should be safe and legal, and you think the tax code should be progressive and tax-free institutions should not be allowed to sponsor foreign nations; and you think the government should return to strictly limiting the terms of existence for corporations and intellectual property, there is no party for you.
Thanks for that link, if people have not stopped to read it.. shame on you. If you have, welcome to the real world. The only way for us to maintain some semblance of freedom is to be vocal when things are being done to stifle that freedom. Stop SOPA is a prime example of what needs to be happening. Sadly, companies like Wiki and Google can't do that crap every friggin day. It's up to us, the Netizens of the world, to educate and inform everyone around us.
I know, most of you /.ers do that anyway right?
off my soap box, carry on with your day.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
I think it is silly for any government to do something like sensor "the internet" - but is what Iran does in their country my business?
I find it amusing that we (the US in my case) often feel we have a right to tell other countries how to govern themselves, how to run their industry, how to run their elections, etc. Where does any country get off thinking it can tell another country what to do? I am not defending the criminal heads of state - just saying that we wouldn't take kindly to another country deciding how things should work in the US, deciding who they would allow to serve in elected office etc.
When will people realize that we need to leave people alone. If the Iranians want a different government then it is up to them to make one. Every single time the US tries to force other countries to behave it results in piles of corpses and enormous debt and a giant dose of hate directed at the US by BOTH sides of the conflict in the foreign country.
KK4SFV
I remember one time I was talking with a Catholic Bishop. One thing that really got me was how Intelligent this guy was, and I found out he had a PHD in Bio-Chemistry, he spoke fluently at least 5 different languages. What got me most was not all of his views were not 100% inline with the Pope. However his faith was solid, and the solidness of his faith is based on learning and experiencing the world.
For people who experience more information and loose faith, it is often because they were looking for reasons to disprove their faith. For those who want to keep faith they can see the same information and it will strengthen it.
That is why is really silly to debate "Truth" about Atheism vs the "Truth" about religion. Because they keep throwing back facts back and forth. However failing to really convince anyone else (Assuming they have the same debating skills). Because in Faith in the Super Natural, you are talking about things that are not Observable threw scientific means. Religion isn't science, you shouldn't be using it as a way to explain why the world works the way it does. Science isn't Religion it shouldn't be used to judge your moral charactor.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Imagine being an Iranian open source guy and then being cut off from the rest of your community. Perhaps Apple and Microsoft will have solutions for using their operating systems in that environment, but otherwise it seems to me that cutting itself off from the Internet is a good way to take Iran back to the 1980s. In the end, however, I think there will be something for all of us to learn from this cruel experiment as well. That's why other countries that live with despotic regimes and/or severe restrictions (e.g. Saudi Arabia) will be watching with interest.
PS -- By the way, this is another good reason for the US and/or Israel not to attack Iran. They're so busy making life miserable for themselves that eventually their theocratic government is bound to fall due to another popular uprising. If they are attacked from the outside, however, it will only serve to make the theocrats stronger.
Facebook
You mean Veilbook?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
US Conservatives and Wahabi-style Islamists have common ground: all women are sluts and must have every facet of their lives controlled by men.
In the USA left and right...
Sorry, but in the USA you don't have left and right. You have right and further-right. (On a world scale, anyway.)
But anyway, economic left/right views should be considered separately from the social authoritarian/libertarian views. Have a look at http://www.politicalcompass.org/
Yes, Iranians are Persians (and rather proud of that). They speak Farsi (Persian) which is an arabicized version of Parsi.
Required reading for internet skeptics
If someone points out that people who use certain words in certain ways are racist, that does not count as censorship, despite what they tell you to think on FOX News. You know what else? Pointing out that someone has said something racist is not "exactly as bad" as, say, arresting filmmakers for the crime of presenting opposing points of view.
The regime banned satellite TV more tan a decade ago, but every Iranian city-dweller from Yazd to Tabriz watches the latest MadMen and Big Bang episodes, from a dish on their roof. Yes, the CNN and BBC domestic propaganda feeds are avidly consumed, too.
Whooh! Feel the rush of democracy, flooding over the airwaves! The mullahs have little to fear from regular Internet access, either. Given the alternatives of being a US/Israel bitch, like Turkey - or going with their local brand of bastardry - Iranians will remain proud and nationalistic. Their chauvinism, vataan parasti, rivals that of the French.
Besides, why close your Internet - when the US is on the verge of forcing an International "agreement" without representation, that makes the Chinese firewall look like a Sunday's proof-of-concept exercise?
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
This would be a great idea. What they could do is take IPv4, make all routable addresses private and private addresses public. This way, the only public addresses in Iran would be 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x-172.31.x.x and 192.168.x.x. Anything from 0-9.x.x.x will be private addresses, while all other addresses would be the various multicast addresses. This would give the Iranians some 500 million addresses in all - plenty for them, since their population is what - 80 million?
That way, any Iranian who wants to connect to external sites will find himself hitting a multicast address, while any external content providers who try to deliver content to Iran will find themselves sending packets to their own LANs, rather than anything outside.
Iran can then get Huawei to manufacture all routers that do this protocol, and make them the only ones available in Iran.
Well, do you think we could raise money by confiscating the property of people who don't have any, and punishing people for not being successful?
That makes no sense to me. I was talking about the Real World, remember? Not some theoretical wonderland where the rich are incorruptible heroes. That world only exists in Ayn Rand's crank dreams.
The truth is we won't be doing a lot of "protecting liberty" if you're going to insist that we finance it by oppressing the poor. Enforcing the laws that are necessary for the operation of a free market requires taxation of those who have benefited from the existence of the market. The rich have to pay for the costs of controlling corruption among the rich, because nobody but the rich can afford to do so. This is not really complicated. You can't get blood from a stone, and the poor don't have the money to oppose destruction of the market by the rich. It doesn't matter if you think it's moral or not.