Slashdot Mirror
Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards"
An anonymous reader writes A Grand Ayatollah in Iran has determined that access to high-speed and 3G Internet is "against Sharia" and "against moral standards." However, Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani, plans to renew licenses and expand the country’s 3G cellular phone network. A radical MP associated with the conservative Resistance Front, warned: “If the minister continues to go ahead with increasing bandwidth and Internet speed, then we will push for his impeachment and removal from the cabinet.” “We will vigorously prevent all attempts by the [communication] minister to expand 3G technology, and if our warnings are not heeded, then the necessary course of action will be taken,” he added.
...then there's got to be something to it.
14.4 ackbar? Really?
You already know they don't like this because it takes away their control over a population.
Of course they count it against their religion of control and abuse.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
The key bit FTA is here:
“All third generation [3G] and high-speed internet services, prior to realization of the required conditions for the National Information Network [Iran’s government-controlled and censored Internet which is under development], is against Sharia [and] against moral and human standards.”
In short the position is that if you have freedom you will abuse it. That's overall pretty similar to the thinking of al Qaida and ISIS. Strike up the banjos and play "Dueling Theocracy!" Oops, sorry, no music allowed. Or kite flying.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Imagine if 3G (and "4G") was found to somehow be illegal in the US - I think there'd be a revolt. A good enough chunk of the nation expects to get FB updates and cat vids on demand anywhere they go. Maybe Iran is the same? It seems backwards, but I think this is the kind of thing that gets the average person to actually care about something. No cat vids = Arab spring in Iran? Maybe?
Young and old we all hate fast internet connections the way seals hate fish.
This program was made possible by a grant from the Ultra-Humanite, and viewers like you.
Uhm, you're confused bankers on Wall Street are doing just fine moving the cash around... it's the traders instructions they follow, and the traders who are making the mistakes right now.
... just wait until they try to cancel.
Iran's government is fighting over whether or not to implement rusting-edge technology, with calls for impeachment if they go ahead. It's like they WANT to remain in the 8th Century. Why is it exactly that we're afraid of them?
Finding God in a Dog
First... moral standards are "his" moral standards.
Second, internet in general connects his people to the world... exposing them to other view points that might distort their indoctrination to his world view.
So what he is saying is "the people of my country might not believe in my values if exposed to alternative view points."
Which is rational. They probably won't. His world view is pretty weak on logic, argument, or supporting evidence. Its just do what I say or the sharp knives come out.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
I accidentally RTFA'd and realised the fatwa is actually against high-speed internet that isn't government controlled and censored:
All third generation [3G] and high-speed internet services, prior to realization of the required conditions for the National Information Network [Iran’s government-controlled and censored Internet which is under development], is against Sharia [and] against moral and human standards.
Thus I conclude that internet porn is just fine, so long as it's consumed slowly, scanline by scanline. He clearly wants you to enjoy the anticipation.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
Where in the Koran does it mention bandwidth? or the speed in which information is made available, since it has nothing to do with what information is available, just the connection speed?
This will mean the general population will have restricted speed internet but the ruling class, the government and the military will still be working with speeds as fast as they can muster. It's the usual dual standard applied in all tyrannies.
They're not going to let the people have the freedom they deserve but they cannot afford to become weakened where exposed to the outside world.
64kb/s ought to be enough for anybody.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
Quick!, Get the Australian Government on the phone, slow national broadband is their policy! :)
Mr Malcolm Turnbull, We have a sale for your broadband plan.. Iran is interested in your vision!!
-- If at first you don't succeed, lie!
So Comcast is just trying to protect our moral integrity?
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
here
So - straight to LTE then? I don't blame him for saying 3G is not a good idea. much better tech is out there already. why waste time on 3G?
Torture is OK in Iran.
It is interesting that one of the basis of most religions is the freedom to choose. Most religions allow people to choose to do good or choose not to. Why does the Muslim religion seem to want to control everything? Conversion by force, death sentence for converting to another religion, hiding women's bodies so not to tempt men and now censorship. What would a religion have to force it's followers to conform? What proves a person's faith is the ability to resist temptation. Look at the trials of Job. If the people need to be "protected" from temptation then their faith is weak.
The Ayatollah speaks the truth. Just look at America. Everywhere there is broadband, heathens have flourished, while is REAL America, where dial-up reigns, people are living nobly under god's laws and the Bible. Preach it Brother Ayatollah! AMEN!
Someone's after your job.
This stupid Republican troll once blamed Republicans for rent increases in San Francisco! As if Republicans have any power there whatsoever.
We're number 26! http://www.netindex.com/download/allcountries/
Between COX, Time Warner and Charter we should be safe from High Speed Internets evil influences for the foreseeable future..
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
Many ultra-orthodox rabbis who demand their followers not use uncensored smartphones or uncensored internet access. In 2012, a big anti-Internet rally for ultra-orthodox Jews was held in New York. "The siren song of the Internet entices us! It brings out the worst of us!" The event was streamed live and is summarized on YouTube.
There are ultra-orthodox ISPs with filtering. The filtering is very stringent, based on a rabbi-approved whitelist. "That's all you get, and nothing else."
There are kosher cell phones. "Kosher Phone has no camera, no Bluetooth capabilities, no memory card slot and cannot be connected to a computer."
That's in the US. In Israel, kosher cell phones are so locked down that only approved numbers can be called. Even rape crisis centers are blocked.
Yeah, well, that's pretty much the philosophy of a lot of religions. That it's better to prevent sin by removing temptation. That the "weaker" folk will give in and those "evil" sinners are more likely to lure in the good souls to sin than the good souls will lead the sinners to redemption--probably true, but then that's a whole other area to talk about*. Of course the real point is that Iran is a theocracy and not a democracy. The similarities to al Qaida and ISIS on religions matters are really moot in themselves--as honestly there's a good many Christians who obviously think the same way about the internet and porn but the name dropping of Catholics or Mennonites doesn't have the same guilt-by-association. What does matter is that Iran is clearly not moving towards a democracy, which is no real big surprise. *shrug* So, not really news.
* Those without the character to resist sin are damned. Except Jesus specifically conserved with, converted, and saved sinners. So, Godly enough people should be capable of resisting and doing right by God. But most people don't follow religion out of some deep spiritual belief but because there's an almost de facto theocracy of the masses and it's better to be on the good side of that mob, at least in appearances. The openly atheists and agnostics, meanwhile, have an actual theological basis to reject the notions and aren't merely doing what the want and paying lip service. Although it's hard to say at what point everyone is just rationalizing their own actions after the fact rather than reasoning their way to the point they're at. The ones who chuckle to themselves about going to hell? I think very few actually embrace going to hell.
At least there is a political disagreement and (a small number of government) people are talking about the issue.
It's scarier when you remember that Iran is a liberal democracy compared to some countries (Saudi Arabia).
Just nuke these animals already.
I'm pretty sure that solution also has moral implications.
Ay ah tol' ya and ay ah tol' ya....
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
I'm becoming increasingly suspicious that the Grand Ayatollah runs my ISP...
~theCzar
Rock the Casbah!
You have exactly ZERO right to dictate anything to anyone, so go fuck yourself, or better yet, strap a claymore to your chest curved side aimed at your non-existent heart, climb back down to the sewers from where you were spawned and detonate it.
Not really, when a dog goes rabid, you put it down, for the safety of the community.
When a religious nut goes rabid, you do the same thing, with the community being the world.
All those ISIS fucks, this shit-head ayatollah, and any others who feel they can dictate terms to anyone based on some fucked up religious interpretation need to be wiped from the face of the earth.
Whenever someone says "4G" half the time all I hear is "orgy". Is it just me or are other people having this same problem? This all started with the T-Mobile 4G chick and proceeded downhill from there.
Had to pause and rewind the commercials... all I kept hearing was "my touch orgy" .. when I knew consciously she must be saying "my touch 4G" ... I'm clearly going to hell.. and clearly high speed cellular networks are sinful.
Another setback for nations of theocrats and their hate-filled, atavist subjects.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
Man wouldn't have morality but with religion man wouldn't have technology just how much of it would the believers in Imaginary friends have us ban?
Back to the plough? The stone knife , the club using a stick as a club ? oh wait then they wouldn't be able to control their followers would they.
I am of the same opinion, and I can provide evidence. ...Fast forward to 2013. The Internet is operating at Gb/s speeds in the civilized countries and at Mb/s everywhere else. Most of the content in porn, spam, fake illegal downloads, various scams and viruses.
So where is the "evidence" you claim to have? Your "evidence" seems to have originated from your gut. There is a lot less porn on the internet than you think
No wonder all the young men are all killing each other in the middle east: they have to live with ASCII porn.
Table-ized A.I.
They rule this city
Republicans lose to Greens in Seattle. Whatever accounts for poor bandwidth in Seattle relative to other US cites has got nothing at all to do with Republicans.
The degree of deviation from reality exhibited by some of you libtards is genuinely disturbing. Seek help, "greenwow."
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
... 300baud ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
The Imams decided Gutenberg's printing press was off limits, because (you have to know how the press worked...stamping, essentially) printing the prophet's words on one would be equivalent of punching him in the face.
And ever since, Muslims have been spiraling downward into a pit of ignorance and fanaticism. There was a time when they were the flower of human civilization. That time has passed. Ours will, too, if we continue to allow superstitious morons to dictate our social and educational policiies.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
I'm often impressed by the ability of my critics to find yet another dead end road to travel.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Islam: Raping non muslims, killing apostates, forcing captives into sex slavery, and beheading captives - morally good. Using 3G - morally bad.
The Grand Ayatollah announced that High Speed Internet is immoral via youtube yesterday, followed quickly by the Internets 1st selfie beheading..
Choose your allies carefully, it is highly unlikely you will be held accountable for the actions of your enemies
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Facts are trolling now? Damn.
Required reading for internet skeptics
you've all made comments just as daft about islam in the past
[site]
Just about sums up these religious idiots.
More like Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, or Telus... maybe Shaw. Or all three.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
If I had been there:
[Hesitantly raises hand] "Um, Mr. Grand Ayatollah, do you have any opinions on electricity and running water, too?"
The internet facilitates reason, criticism, satire, and alternate points of view. And yeah porn, fun, shopping and irreverence. All things which an authoritarian theocracy has reason to fear.
Yes some backwards fool can point out that the net provides opportunities to see sexual content and therefore enables sin. And that makes as much sense as saying that if we allow right handed people to keep their right hands we enable masturbation and therefore the old fart should demand that the right hand be amputated from everyone in his nation. Frankly religion normally involves something more than a pile of completely ignorant, brain impaired zealots babbling with absurd logic and obvious hatred and fear. If we lived in a just an able world we would lock the population of these nations in a mental ward until we had a way to help them. Since we do not live in a just and able world chances are these folks will be nuclear ash before it is over.
Its not that religion is evil, or that it does not have significant purpose. Its just that people use it as a means to carry out their own agenda hiding behind the myths and teachings that were misunderstood or misinterpreted. Religion is just a way to get people to follow you and to make you fear going against them because its going against a God. Iran is just another Country bent on keeping the information of the real world away from its people. Only instead of a dictator you have a religious figure who tries to control people through religion. Don't think for a second the Muslims are any more peaceful then the Christians, or Jews or any other religion. Wars throughout history have had significant meaning over differing religions. Unfortunately, religion has backfired on keeping peace in the world. It has only worsen and created conflicts and in many cases has shed more blood then it has saved. It was never meant to happen that way, but it has.
So if we al watch boobquake photos over highspeed internet, something very bad should happen....
The Grand Ayatollah is an evil relic of the past. Move on Iran!
Comcast=Satan as we all know
I feel like comcast would have a much easier time with the whole net neutrality debate if they explained that data caps were against divine law.
There are Republicans under you bed when you sleep at night.
To meddle in something that is none of your business merely tends to give credibility to whatever you disagreed with in the first place.
“Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.” - George Carlin.
“Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” - Mark Twain.
So if Iran or wherever wants to pass stupid edicts, just let it go ahead.
Have some respect for Iranians to recognize a horse's ass for what it is.
If a stupid government passes a sufficient number of dumb edicts that they eventually make themselves irrelevant.
Or maybe we should interfere and start another war which would surely help support a dumb regime (on both sides).
If they dont want to be with the rest of us, fine by me. "High speed Internet" is not a basic human right, its a choice. No more than having koolaid is a human right.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
You can take away most freedoms but don't touch my internet!
Make people wait... brilliant!
That might explain why Comcast and AT&T are so shitty and slow.
I didn't realize they were run my militant clerics, but now it all makes sense.
So.... you support starting with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, right?
Reading between the lines, licensing is at issue, not Alla. It appears that the head puba of the islamic ariean nation is referencing the busness section of Crayon?
Not many people use 3G any more. All the new smartphones come with 4G LTE. How about expanding the 4G network in Iran instead?
...we needed any more evidence that religious "leaders" are uniquely unqualified to act as an authority on "morality". My command of Sharia is far from what it could be, but I am damn sure that neither Allah nor The Prophet had anything to say about high-speed Internet connections. Most ISP's however, are probably guilty of at least a few "stoning" offenses, but as for the "morality" a faster Internet, the Ayatollah is full of shit. Ignorance is never a moral virtue.
Come to think of it, he can probably read it without pausing as it prints out on his 1980s fax machine, so I'm surprised he hasn't denounced everything faster as "unnecessary."
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
It's a very common page from the playbook of every dictator and oppressive regime. Keep the people in the dark as much as possible, or better yet in the case of religion, demonize other, non-church-authority sources of information, insist that if you use them you are committing a sin, and that only information from church leaders is valid and right. The only good thing in this story is that moves like this just highlight how desperate these people are to maintain power over the people, and how much that power is, year by year, slipping through their fingers like so much sand, as they grip tighter and tighter.
I don't want to live forever, but for this one reason alone: I'd be pleased to live long enough to see humans, as a race, finally evolve beyond this silly need for 'god(s)' and 'religion' and finally realize they've been relying on themselves all along, and that it's a Good Thing to be that way. Then power-hungry and/or deluded people like this 'Grand Ayatollah', and the Pope, and anyone like them, would no longer hold sway over people. Then we'll really have a shot at having a civilization to be proud of.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Polluting Americans' precious bodily fluids.
http://ncse.com/news/2010/06/c...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
The internet must be restricted because it has no place in the 7th century culture we are working to recreate.
See ...Comcast is not so bad after all :P
and hacker says stuffy old bearded nut bar religions that cause murder death and mayhem are really against moral standards
without the high speed internets how will they watch the ISIS video's of cutting off heads?
The funny thing is, I recall a Labour MP here in the UK saying something comparably dim back in 1998! At that point, all we had was expensive metered dialup; I was in a group campaigning to change that, and happened to meet him at some event. His reply was that he "didn't think the Internet was a good idea". One of those moments I really, really wish I could have recorded!
"In other words, power corrupts. It should really be regarded like super-heroin: no matter your initial purposes for getting it, you will be addicted and unwilling to put it down, until keeping it and getting more is all that really matters to you anymore. Which explains why the world is so dysfunctional: every society is led by junkies."
If "power" is addictive, maybe that explains the outrage on Slashdot regarding a plea to limit internet speed and access? :-)
More seriously, while you may well be right about the political motivation in this case, there was a recent Slashdot article on how social networks make people more depressed, and here are links to stuff by Paul Graham on the "Acceleration of Addictivess" and so on.
http://tech.slashdot.org/story...
http://www.paulgraham.com/addi...
http://www.amazon.com/Supernor...
http://www.sparringmind.com/su...
http://www.drfuhrman.com/libra...
http://www.amazon.com/Moths-Fl...
http://www.amazon.com/Autonomo...
And something by Bill Joy on "How the Future Does Not Need Us".
http://archive.wired.com/wired...
One other example of what we have lost: ... Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the lure of the screen. Recent research has drawn a further contrast between the declining number of National Park visits in the United States and increasing consumption of electronic media by children."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N...
"Nature deficit disorder refers to a hypothesis by Richard Louv in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.
So there are many obvious negatives of modern technology. Look at all the concern on Slashdot about ubiquitous surveillance of everyone that was effectively impossible decades ago. I don't know what the general solution is for the USA regarding technological choices. Obviously Iran has its own political and social dynamics and what may be right for that culture may not be right in the USA. But I'd suggest we need a more reflective attitude towards technology and social systems connected to it. Maybe that would be hard in Iran with its current politics and censorship, but at least, in the USA and on Slashdot, we may want to be more reflective on both what we have gained and what we have lost.
For example, the Amish don't shun technology as much as ask whether specific technologies promote community or not.
http://www2.etown.edu/amishstu...
"Many outsiders mistakenly think that the Amish reject technology. It is more accurate to say that they use technology selectively. Televisions, radios, and personal computers are rejected outright, but other types of technology are used selectively or modified to fit Amish purposes. Amish mechanics also build new machines to accommodate their cultural guidelines. Moreover, the Amish readily buy much modern technology, such as gas grills, shop tools, camping equipment, and some farm equipment.
The Amish do not consider technology evil in itself but they believe that technology, if left untamed, will undermine worthy trad
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
And now it's proven! They are against high speed Internet too!
Well, around here the support 4G speeds are pretty revolting as it is, and the 3G signal isn't very good either...
Which is why I've always asserted that (older) geeks make better lovers. 2400 baud modems have taught us to be patient...
Sweet! A new market for the 56K modems that I've got sitting the the garage!
so thinks the Assahola.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Become a majority stock holder in Comcast?
It has to be 4G or better!
Religion was born when the first con man met the first fool
Casteism
Asking WHY is a taboo in every religion, not just Islam.
Casteism
...but the week is still young. This right here though, is tragic entertainment.
You're spot on, of course, but as you are differed with "The Progressive Narrative" which seems to be groupthink on /. I hope you have your flame retardant pants on.
Murphy was an optimist
If a stupid government passes a sufficient number of dumb edicts that they eventually make themselves irrelevant.
Brilliant. Surely this will take hold in the USA - soon.
Murphy was an optimist
What are we, animals? 56k is enough bandwidth for anyone. Be nice, or they'll cut you back to 14.4.
--- Say something clever. Pretend it was me. Thanks.
Anything which could potentially educate people must be against moral standards!
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
Coming from a guy who finds murder, torture and generally executing just about anyone he wants, to be politically correct. All in the name of Allah. Fortunately for him, he doesn't have to take responsibility for this as he is advised by his most hollies on its correctness. I don't get it, do you?