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Iran Lifts Block On Gmail
redletterdave writes "After blocking Google's Gmail service for a little more than a week, the Iranian government has decided to remove the digital barrier after a barrage of complaints, some of which came from Iran's own parliament. While the Iranian government has released no official statement as to why Google's Gmail service was blocked in the first place, several Iranian news agencies reported the ban was connected to the inflammatory anti-Islam film 'The Innocence of Muslims,' which had been uploaded to YouTube, one of Google Inc.'s many subsidiaries."
Hmmm... Common carrier sub-business site that doesn't pre-filter uploads receives something legal in that host's country that is found objectionable in your country.
Block another sub-business site from that same conglomerate business...
BRILLIANT!
Are they sure that alcohol is banned in Iran? It seems like a lot of the stuff must be consumed, given the nature of some of the plans...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
One of the many things that are worse than censorship is censorship subject to special interests.
The video did not cause gmail to be blocked any more than the video caused terrorist attacks against US embassies. This is getting ridiculous. I mean, yes we joke that Iranian government is terribly inept, but would they really be so thick as to think blocking gmail had any meaningful impact on those who created/supported the video? The video is just serving as a gigantic red herring. More likely Iran had a real purpose behind the brief blockade, and throwing "The Video" out there as a reason is an attempt to distract from that reason.
It's run by the Republican Guard. They let the mullahs and ayatollah go on thinking they run things, also leave civilian stuff to them, too, but the hard decisions on nuclear research, cracking skulls, rigging elections, that's done by the Republican Guard. If the religious establishment think they really run things, try reigning in the Republican Guard and see what happens.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
No one knows what the regime will do next, not us and neither the people they supposedly govern. Structured like they are, such governments become a cesspit of intrigue and internal struggles. This event has the certain smell of infighting. Just look up the sorry excuse of a statement about the "involuntary" block. ï
The video did not cause gmail to be blocked any more than the video caused terrorist attacks against US embassies.
The video did not cause a terrorist attack on the US embassies but you would have to agree it gave the people planning the attacks some really good cover from citizens that might have been unwilling under normal circumstances to storm United States embassies, right? The video was used in the attacks as a device. Likewise, you could call the video "the straw that broke the camel's back" or a bigger piece of the picture for Iran's blockage of Gmail but to say it played no role is purely speculation. Do you have an alternative theory or is it simply just a hunch? Do you speak Farsi? Are you situated in Tehran, roaming about and getting a feeling for the climate of the people? No? You're just sitting comfortably at your desk halfway across the world? So how do you know the video caused no unrest?
I mean, yes we joke that Iranian government is terribly inept, but would they really be so thick as to think blocking gmail had any meaningful impact on those who created/supported the video?
I thought the purpose was to punish Google for allowing the video to be uploaded at all (and it still remains in lengthy trailer format for most of the world's population to view). The government picked a length of time that they felt would cause an exodus of users from Gmail to another provider -- hopefully a local one that dishes up information without resistance to the Iranian government. More importantly, one that is not associated as the web host of "Innocence of Muslims" trailers.
The video is just serving as a gigantic red herring. More likely Iran had a real purpose behind the brief blockade, and throwing "The Video" out there as a reason is an attempt to distract from that reason.
Then what was it? Sure, relations with the US are strained. Sure, their currency just hit an all-time low against the dollar. But calling this a "red herring" requires you to tell us what the real purpose was. Otherwise there's a pretty simple cause and effect in my mind: Google still lets Americans watch movie trailer so therefore Iran government gives its citizens a reason not to use Google services. What is so abnormal about that logic? It makes about as much sense as US does not like Iranian Government so US places trade embargoes on all of Iranian goods, companies and services.
My work here is dung.
old news BS:
"While the Iranian government has released no official statement as to why Google's Gmail service was blocked in the first place"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-lifts-block-on-gmail-a-week-after-barring-access-to-googles-popular-email-service/2012/10/01/02903854-0ba6-11e2-97a7-45c05ef136b2_story.html
"On Monday, Mohammad Reza Aghamiri, a member of governmental Internet watchdog committee, told the semiofficial Mehr news agency that authorities have lifted the Gmail ban after resolving technical problems to separate YouTube and Gmail. As of Monday, YouTube is still blocked, while Gmail is now available."
http://rt.com/news/line/2012-10-01/#id38227
"The Gmail ban was an “involuntary” consequence of the censoring of Google's YouTube video-sharing site, Mohammad Reza Miri, a member of the ministry tasked with filtering the Internet in Iran said. The ministry is working to create new filters to block YouTube under the HTTPS protocol while leaving Gmail accessible. Iran blocked YouTube in mid-2009 amid opposition rallies protesting the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
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