Internet Filtering in Iran

[Rasputin]

Iranian bloggers on web restrictions
Iranian bloggers have reacted with anger and scorn to a new law requiring them to register their websites and blogsites with the authorities.
It is being seen as the latest attempt by the Iranian government to control the media.

BBC Persian.com asked six Iranian bloggers - inside and outside Iran - if they thought the law could be enforced and what effect it would have.



OMID MERMARIAN, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

Omid Mermarian was tortured in an Iranian jail before moving to the US
The bloggers who write about politics or culture from a critical standpoint are people who are already known to everybody, and they abide by the law.

There are others who are either unknown or who write under aliases, and there's a third group who write from outside Iran.

This law only addresses the first group: the people whose names and addresses are known.

It is highly likely that if it is enforced, more and more bloggers will go underground.

This legislation would mean that every blogger who is an intellectual, a journalist, a social activist, or who writes under his own name would have to blog in line with government taste.

This would threaten the very existence of many social, political and cultural blogs. Even those that write about women.

Many influential weblogs are already being censored by the government.

This law would result in many websites and blogs being closed down. Or at the very least, they would become increasingly conservative.



ABOLHASSAN MOKHTABAD, TEHRAN

Abolhassan Mokhtabad blogs from Tehran

This law is about registering companies. But there is a difference between weblogs and companies.

The government should trust its citizens and tolerate them.

But concepts of trust and tolerance do not exist in the current government.

The drive to curb the media started with the newspapers. Now they are widening the scope to include the internet.

The Iranian government should remember what is happening in China. Nearly 30 thousand people are currently employed to control Chinese weblogs.

Beijing is spending a lot of money in controlling the flow of information.

This is impractical and impossible to do in Iran. It will also provoke even sharper criticism of the Iranian government.



NAZLY KAMVARI, CANADA

Nazly Kamvari blogs from Canada

Well, I have been trying to call the Iranian embassy in Ottowa to ask how I can register my weblog.

There was no answer and I got worried, because I really don't want to do anything illegal.

Seriously, there is no legal or practical foundation for this law. Even in north America there is still no law governing the internet.

Ensuring free dialogue can take place is one of the first conditions of restoring democracy. This law is diametrically opposed to that, even if it is being presented in an innocent way.

And anyway, what is the budget for this and how many people will be checking the websites every day?

Enforcing this law will officially put Iran on the list of the countries which are enemies of the internet.

Pro-democracy groups will find more reasons to criticise the Iranian government.



PARISTOO DOCOUHAKY, TEHRAN

Web image for Paristoo Docouhaky

It strikes me that getting rid of all sorts of private media is one of the objectives of this government.

Look at the newspapers. Every day you see fewer and fewer exclusive news stories.

Do you know why? It's because government officials don't welcome reporters.

At the moment, websites are the only outlet for those who care about freedom of information and for those who work in news.

Ministers want to limit and control websites, because they want to get rid of the media.

They have not given the issue any real thought, because destroying the media is tantamount to destroying the government.

Is this practical? It would be too optimistic to say it's not possible to restrict websites.

Just look at China. There, no stone is left unturned in the quest for media control.



SHAYAN MASHATIAN, TORONTO

Shayan Mashatian blogs from Toronto

Is the government - as the institution in charge of our society - entitled to impose such control over websites?

We all know that the drive to control the media began with radio [in the 1930s, the Iranian government said people had to get a permit before they could own a radio set] and has continued as far as satellite TV. The internet is the next step.

When the services on mobile phones become more popular, the same approach will be taken towards things like SMS texts.

This law can only be enforced on bloggers who have their own domain name.

If it's followed through, it will be yet another impractical and unenforceable law to add to those we already have.

And all this is irrespective of whether we actually agree with the law.



HASSAN ZAREZADEH ARDESHIR, CANADA
The plan is fundamentally flawed and is drawn up by people who know nothing about telecommunications.

Any attempt to limit the internet will backfire.

When video machines were banned in Iran, everyone tried to get one to use at home.

The restriction of information is taking place in our country, even though it hasn't worked in the past.

Do you remember when Mr Gharazi was the Minister for telecommunications? [In the late 1980s and early 1990s] He called on everyone with a fax machine register it at the post office. That didn't work either.

[Rasputin]

Beating the Mullahs' Block

"How Iran's surfers find their way to restricted or censored Iranian sites."


(Persian Journal)- 'Truth', they say, is the first casualty of war. In international conflicts, winning the propaganda war has become as important as achieving the military goals.

While it is easier to exercise some control over the flow of information through conventional media, the Internet is a different kettle of fish.

In fact, it was meant to be that way. The tangled mess called the Internet is a legacy of the cold war era. It was built in such a way that even if one part of the system fails or is destroyed, the information would flow around it. There are always multiple routes to a destination.

So even though the Internet can be and is filtered at different levels, by different people, its inherent architecture enables people to bypass these blocks.

Picking the lock

So how can you get access to restricted information? The best way to learn how to pick a lock is to understand how the lock works. On the Internet, the lock is usually on the humble browser. A good indication that a door has been slammed in your face is when your browser displays the message "DNS error" or "access denied".

The simplest form of blocking is by filtering the address or URL (example: www****anian.ws). Most service providers have some form of caching device on the edge of their network, before your request is bounced off to the Internet. This device, a special type of computer, stores frequently accessed data (for instance, pages of iranian.ws). ) till it is changed on the original location.

These devices come with access control lists that can say, for instance, "don't serve any user from our network the domain iranian.ws when it is accessed via a browser (or any device that uses the HTTP protocol)". Such a restriction would block iranian.ws and all its sub-domains like news****anian.ws or iranian.ws/singles.

But it is pretty easy to bypass.

The no-brainer option is to use a service like Anonymizer or Surfola. Both have restricted free versions. These sites hide your location and protect your privacy.

When you enter the address of a Web site, your service provider first determines if it is on the okay list and then fetches the page and gives it to you. Obviously, when it is blocked, this does not happen.

This is where sites like Anonymizer come in. They fetch the blocked site/page from their servers and display it to you. As far as the service provider is concerned you are viewing a page from Anonymizer and not the blocked site.
Another way is to access the blocked Web site using its Internet Protocol (IP) number instead of the URL. For example, let us see how this works with 70.85.53.85. I used Netcraft to find out that the iranian.ws Web server is located at the IP address 70.85.53.85. Now, by typing this number in the address bar of my browser I get to see the Persian Journal homepage even if 70.85.53.85 is on the blocked list.

But this is not foolproof for two reasons:

1) If the blocking is meticulous and mapped to the IP address of the Web server by something called reverse Domain Name Service lookup, the site will remain blocked

2) If the Web site does not have a dedicated IP address and is on a shared hosting set up (one where multiple sites are hosted on the same machine), there is no guarantee that you will be able to access the site you want.

Note: Most service providers state in their Terms of Service that attempts to bypass any restrictions (no matter how legal or illegal the blocking) could lead to termination of the services provided to you.

Anonymous Proxy Servers

So how does one bypass the restrictions if it is fairly comprehensive and blocks even Web sites like Anonymizer? The way out is to use anonymous proxy servers.

A proxy server is, in most cases, a normal computer that hides the identity of computers on its network from the Internet. Which means that only the address of the proxy server is visible to the world and not of those computers that are using it to browse the Internet.

There are two ways to go about this. The first is to use special software like Multiproxy or Surfola Redirector Redirector. These automatically check for new open proxy servers and help your browser use them without much difficulty. The second is to use Web sites like Openproxy or Defcon to manually check for open proxy servers.

While using these servers, it is a safe practice not to transmit confidential data or credit card numbers, as these machines can record all the information that passes through them.

The software-based approach is quite easy. Once you download the software and start it, it checks for available open proxy servers and routes your traffic through them, rendering the filtering on the service provider's end useless.

The manual approach is a bit tedious and it takes a fair bit of trial and error to get a server that is fast and reliable. Sites like Openproxy some times check only whether a proxy server port is open and not whether it allows outside access.



Before you begin using proxy servers, a visit to sites like Curlyfries would be wise. Curlyfries tells you exactly what information your computer is spewing out every time you visit a site. In the image you can see the IP address assigned to my computer. Now check the IP address by doing a WHOIS.

Once you find an open proxy server (the Defcon ones are usually more reliable, even though the demo version lists just a handful of servers), note down the IP address and Port number. The next step is to set up your browser to use proxies.


If you are using Internet Explorer, go to the "Tools" menu.
From the drop down, click on "Internet Options"
Click the "Connection" tab.



Then click the "LAN Settings" button.

Check the "Use a proxy server" option and enter the IP address and port of the server you noted down from Defcon.
Now press "OK" and the process is complete.

Due to the way it has been designed, this method will work with the Internet Explorer browser only if you are connecting via a LAN and not direct dial-up. Dial-up users can try browsers like Opera or Mozilla.

Another visit to Curlyfries is advisable. After setting up my browser to use proxies, a WHOIS on the IP address says that I am surfing from somewhere in Poland. Since the server there is looking up my requests, restrictions placed by my service provider do not come into play.

The downside is that it is quite difficult to find a server that is fast and reliable and most of them do not offer secure channels and services like FTP, making it a bit cumbersome for the average surfer.

Another problem is that hiding your real IP address is considered illegal in many countries. However, using proxy servers is not the same as IP spoofing, where you forge the IP address of your own computer. Internet Relay Chat service providers, too, ban connections from open proxy servers because Internet vandals use this technique to launch attacks of the kind that took down the English version of the Al Jazeera Web site.

Go For Text

If you are willing to forgo the bells and whistles of a normal browser, and read the restricted or censored information as text, sign up for a shell account, available in both paid and free flavours. After that, a text-based browser like Lynx is all you need.

For instance, my favoured provider is Rootshell. The sign ups at Rootshell are manual and it takes a while. You can pay and get instant activation at SDF. Once you have a shell account, use a secure client like Putty to connect to the server. After you log in, type "lynx" followed by the Web site you want to visit.

There is, once again, no guarantee for privacy on such a system as they log each and every command you enter and authorities can examine this information depending on the legal system of the country where the server is physically located.



Also remember that violations of access control can attract penalties depending on where you are. In country like Iran, being caught can have serious repercussions.

So, if you want to tinker around, do so at your own peril.


List of proxy servers:

EchoLink Proxy List

http://www.blockmy.info/

http://gorbe.host.sk/

http://justproxyit.com/

http://www.theproxyfree.com/

[Rasputin]

Iran cracks down on web critics

An Iranian website fiercely critical of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been shut down in an apparent fresh crackdown on anti-government dissent on the internet.
Baztab, a fundamentalist site which has previously accused Mr Ahmadinejad of betraying the Islamic revolution by attending a female dance show, has been closed for acting against the constitution and undermining national unity.

The order coincided with the confirmation of Gholamhossein Elham, who has supported restraints on press freedom, as Iran's new judiciary minister. Mr Elham, previously the government's official spokesman, last year urged prosecutors to pursue news outlets that printed "lies" about Mr Ahmadinejad's government.

His appointment came as the government disclosed new measures to monitor and restrict unofficial news websites.
Baztab - which is close to Mohsen Rezai, a former revolutionary guard commander - is one of Iran's most widely read political sites. It has been a staunch critic of the government's economic policies, which have produced surging inflation and high unemployment. The website also posted video footage purportedly showing Mr Ahmadinejad watching a female dance performance at the recent Asian Games in Qatar, in breach of Iran's prohibition on women dancing in front of men.

The culture and Islamic guidance ministry said: "Considering the large amount of such material, [Baztab] was recognised as an illegitimate internet site and its continued activity is illegal and banned."

Access to the site is now blocked on most Iranian internet service providers.

Baztab called the ban illegal and pledged to fight it. Foad Sadeghi, a member of its policy board, said: "The government is acting as complainant, prosecutor, judge and executioner. The order violates eight principles of the constitution and restricts the media's freedom of expression, which does not serve the people in the current sensitive situation."

Baztab is one of several sites to criticise Mr Ahmadinejad's policies recently, including blaming his approach to Iran's nuclear programme for bringing the country closer to confrontation with the west.

[Rasputin]

“Change for Equality,” the site of the One Million Signatures Campaign, has been filtered for the third time in less than two weeks. Despite having transferred the contents of our site to yet another domain www.we4change.com, a number of activists involved in the Campaign have decided to support our efforts further, through the establishment of weblogs, aptly titled “Change for Equality” where new articles placed on our site will also be featured.

Along these lines and based on its commitment to the continued dissemination of information about the Campaign, the Media Committee of the Campaign, is requesting all webloggers to assist us. Specifically we are asking that webloggers around the world establish blogs titled “Change for Equality” and post news about the Campaign as well as articles which appear on our site

Through this effort, we can assist in the free flow of information about the Campaign and in so doing we can also collectively object to the practice of filtering in Iran.

Not only is our contact and connection with our readers interrupted each time the site is filtered, but we are forced to expend an enormous amount of energy in reestablishing new sites. The purchase of new domains cost us 10,000 Tomans (roughly $12) each time. As a result, the continued filtering of our sites also puts a financial burden on the Campaign, which relies solely on the voluntary contributions of Campaign members and supporters to cover expenses. As such, any other suggestions for the elimination of the negative impact of filtering are most welcome.

In our initial effort to address the problem of continued filtering of our site, 6 weblogs have been established and launched. These weblogs along with our site will be updated simultaneously. Individuals interested in receiving information on new posts to our site and addresses for unfiltered websites and weblogs disseminating Campaign information should add the following Yahoo ID to their messengers: we4change@yahoo.com.

To share with us the address of new weblogs dedicated to sharing information about the Campaign, you can contact the Media Committee of the Campaign at onlinewechange@gmail.com.

New articles on the Campaign can currently be viewed on the site of the Campaign as well as on the following blogs:

http://we-change1.blogfa.com/

http://wechange1.blogspot.com/

http://wechange.blogfa.com/

http://we4change.blogspot.com/

http://we4change.blogfa.com

http://we-change5.blogfa.com/

[Rasputin]

كمتر از يك ميليون كاربر در كشور به صورت منظم با اينترنت در تماس هستند و آمارى كه در خصوص ضريب نفوذ اينترنت در كشور عنوان مي*شود، مبالغه آميز است.

دكتر محمد اسمي، عضو انجمن شركت*هاى اينترنتي، در ارزيابى خود از وضيعت شركت*هاى اينترنتى در سال 85 ، گفت: سال 85 سال رقابت شديد قيمتى در همه سرويس*هاى اينترنتى بود.
وي، با اشاره به ورود شبكه هوشمند و اوج گيرى سرويس*هاى اين شبكه، ياد آور شد: در سال 85 انتظار مي*رفت كه اينترنت پرسرعت (ADSL) گسترش چشم*گيرى داشته باشد؛ اما اين گونه نشد.
دكتر اسمي، تدوين بسيارى از آئين نامه*هاى سرويس*هاى اينترنت و نيز ارائه مجوز فعاليت اين شركت*ها را از سوى سازمان تنظيم مقررات در هاله*اى از ابهام عنوان كرد و گفت: سال 85 سال پويايى در زمينه سرويس*هاى (IT) نبود و تنها نكته مثبت آن ورود سرويس هاى WIMAX به عرصه IT در كشور بود.
عضو انجمن شركت*هاى اينترنتي، با اشاره به ورشكستگى و خروج بسيارى از شركت*هاى ISP از اين عرصه، خاطرنشان كرد: پويايى IT حتى در كاربران نيز ديده نمي*شود.
وي، ادامه داد: متاسفانه آمار ارائه شده در خصوص كاربران اينترنت در كشور با توجه به تعداد 2 هزار لينك E1 و آنالوگ و نيز ظرفيت هاى موجود مبالغه آميز به نظر مي*رسد.
دكتر اسمي، تعداد كاربرانى را كه به صورت همزمان در اوج ساعات مصرف از سرويس دايل*آپ استفاده مي*كنند را نزديك به 50 هزار نفر عنوان كرد و گغت: تعداد كل كاربرانى كه به اينترنت سر مي*زنند كمتر از 3 ميليون نفر است.
وي، با تاكيد بر ضعف آمار در كشور، گفت: يك ميليون كاربر در كشور به صورت منظم با اينترنت در تماس هستند.
دكتر اسمي، ضريب نفوذ اينترنت در كشور را مبالغه آميز دانست و گفت: بايد مشخص شود كه معيار آمارهاى ارائه شده نظير 8 ميليون و يا 12 ميليون كاربرد در سطح كشور بر چه اساسى است.
وي، محتوا سازى را يكى از عوامل رشد مصرف اينترنت در كشور عنوان كرد و افزود: بايد نياز به اينترنت در بين مردم احساس شوند.

[Rasputin]

سایت خبری بازتاب که فعالیت آن پنج هفته قبل به دستور وزارت ارشاد ممنوع شده بود، اکنون با رای دیوان عدالت اداری بازگشایی شده است.
وزارت ارشاد سایت بازتاب را 35 روز قبل به نقض قانون و نشر اکاذیب متهم و آن را فیلتر کرده بود که بلافاصله منجر به شکایت بازتاب به دیوان عدالت اداری شد.

علیرغم منع دسترسی داخلی به سایت، این موسسه خبری در این مدت همچنان به فعالیت خود ادامه می داد و از خارج از ایران قابل دسترسی بود.

فیلتر شدن این سایت که نزدیک به جناحی از محافظه کاران در داخل حکومت ایران است با اعتراض برخی گروه های داخلی روبرو شد.

حتی گروهی از نمایندگان مجلس، وزیر ارشاد را احضار و در این باره از وی توضیح خواستند.

بنابه گزارش ها صفار هرندی، وزیر فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی ایران، به اعضای کمیسیون فرهنگی مجلس گفته بود که بازتاب مطابق قانون به ثبت نرسیده بود و عمدتا به همین دلیل توقیف شده است.

این چهارمین بار بود که سایت بازتاب که به محسن رضایی، فرمانده سابق سپاه پاسداران و دبیر فعلی مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام نزدیک تلقی می شود، مسدود می شد.

"کمیته تعیین مصادیق پایگاه های اینترنتی غیرمجاز" که مسئول فیلتر کردن بازتاب بود در سال های اخیر هزاران سایت اینترنتی را در داخل ایران مسدود کرده است.

مفادی که کميته تعیین مصادیق سایت بازتاب را متهم به عدم رعایت آنها کرده بود عبارتند از: "ممنوعيت هرگونه اقدام عليه قانون اساسی و يا تفرقه* افكنی و خدشه در وحدت و وفاق ملی و استقلال و تماميت ارضی و يا القای بدبينی و نا اميدی در مردم نسبت به مشروعيت و كارآمدی نظام. ممنوعيت توهين به اشخاص حقيقی و حقوقی و ممنوعيت نشر اكاذيب و افترا."

بازتاب پيش از اين نيز در سالهای 1382، 1383 و 1384 به خاطر اتهام هایی چون مواضع این سایت در قبال پرونده هسته ای ایران و "ملاحظات امنیتی"، دوره هایی از توقیف موقت را پشت سر گذاشته بود.

این سایت در هفته های منتهی به توقیفش علاوه بر انتشار صدای سخنرانی های سعید امامی، معاون سابق وزارت اطلاعات که متهم اصلی پرونده قتل گروهی از روشنفکران ايرانی، معروف به قتلهای زنجیره ای بود، برخی اخبار و مقالات انتقادی را نسبت به عملکرد دستگاه های دولتی منتشر کرده بود.

[Rasputin]

A quick look at the Hoder's posts within last few months reflects this fact that he might be done with the Persian blog community or even cyberspace.

He simply slams and swears at anyone whose ideas do not necessarily correspond to his. From monarchists to reformists and from most prominent journalists and cartoonists to various political and academic figures are being slammed by him, and sometimes serious charges without any evidence are laid on them. Why is this happening?

No doubt, he is enjoying absolute freedom of expression on cyberspace. But the problem is that he only wants this freedom for himself and not anyone else!! In his opinion, every one outside Iran is connected to the US, Britain and other political powers and they pay them millions of dollars to initiate propaganda against the Islamic republic.

The question is what if they paid himself ?? Indeed they did when he was in charge of Rooz Online internet service but he abandoned them. Maybe he shifted to other ones because they paid him or PROMISED TO PAY HIM more!

We are not in a position to charge him or even ask him to abandon this attitude .We do not have any evidence indicating he is connected to the regime, but no doubt he is extremely angry and furious about other fellows who have achieved a prominent place on the Persian blog community. He is desperate to be taken seriously but virtually no one does so.

Maybe he is claiming all the credit for the Persian blog simply because he started writing a few macros before others, but it is time for him to pay the price -- the price of making too many enemies for himself and being expelled from the Blog community. Maybe he is already done with cyberspace. It is simply a matter of time.

[abadani69]

[Rasputin]

The custodian of five major public pension funds in New York City will formally request next month that Google take steps to counteract internet censorship in foreign countries with authoritarian government such as China, Egypt and Iran, according to Google's proxy statement for its annual meeting of stockholders on May 10.

The New York City Comptroller will submit the proposal. The comptroller acts as investment advisor for the five city public pension funds, which include the retirement plans for city employees, teachers, NYPD, NYFD and board of education employees. Together, the funds own 486,617 shares of Google's Class A stock.

In recent years, American internet companies have swooped into booming foreign markets and, occasionally, cooperated with repressive regimes seeking to crack down on free speech and democracy. The NYC Comptroller's proposal attempts to limit Google's ability to forgo internet rights that most of us take for granted.

Here's the full text of the proposal:

Whereas, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are fundamental human rights, and free use of the Internet is protected in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom to "receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers", and

Whereas, the rapid provision of full and uncensored information through the Internet has become a major industry in the United States, and one of its major exports, and

Whereas, political censorship of the Internet degrades the quality of that service and ultimately threatens the integrity and viability of the industry itself, both in the United States and abroad, and

Whereas, some authoritarian foreign governments such as the Governments of Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam block, restrict, and monitor the information their citizens attempt to obtain, and

Whereas, technology companies in the United States such as Google, that operate in countries controlled by authoritarian governments have an obligation to comply with the principles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and

Whereas, technology companies in the United States have failed to develop adequate standards by which they can conduct business with authoritarian governments while protecting human rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression,

Therefore, be it resolved, that shareholders request that management institute policies to help protect freedom of access to the Internet which would include the following minimum standards:

1) Data that can identify individual users should not be hosted in Internet restricting countries, where political speech can be treated as a crime by the legal system.

2) The company will not engage in pro-active censorship.

3) The company will use all legal means to resist demands for censorship. The company will only comply with such demands if required to do so through legally binding procedures.

4) Users will be clearly informed when the company has acceded to legally binding government requests to filter or otherwise censor content that the user is trying to access.

5) Users should be informed about the company’s data retention practices, and the ways in which their data is shared with third parties.

6) The company will document all cases where legally-binding censorship requests have been complied with, and that information will be publicly available.

[Rasputin]

مدیرعامل پرشین*بلاگ بازداشت شد"



خبرگزاری کار ایران از بازداشت مهدی بوترابی، مدیرعامل پرشین*بلاگ، خبر داد.

ایلنا به نقل از یکی از مسئولان پرشین بلاگ اعلام کرد: "صبح امروز عده*ای از ماموران دادستانی تهران با مراجعه به دفتر پرشین بلاگ، بوترابی را بازداشت كردند".

این شخص که ایلنا نامی از وی نبرده افزود: "این ماموران هیچ اطلاعی از نوع اتهام و علت بازداشت بوترابی به ما ندادند

برپایه این گزارش، این مسئول پرشین بلاگ در زمینه برخی اظهارات مبنی بر "ارتباط پرشین*بلاگ با علیرضا عسگری"، معاون وقت وزارت دفاع گفت: "عده*ای عنوان كرده*اند كه عسگری، معاون اداری* مالی پرشین بلاگ بوده است كه این موضوع اساساً كذب است و وی هیچ سمتی در پرشین بلاگ نداشته است".
علیرضا عسگری چندی پیش در استانبول ناپدید شد.

[Rasputin]

سرانجام سرانجام پس از مدت*ها از اعلام خبر ايجاد شبكه* اینترنت ملی توسط وزارت ارتباطات و فن*آوري اطلاعات ، هئیت دولت در حالی در آخرین روزهای اردبیهشت ماه کلیات این طرح را به تصویب رساند که در بودجه* امسال براي توسعه فن*آوري اطلاعات بودجه* مستقلي در نظر گرفته نشده است .

این درحالی است که بعضی از مدیران وزارت ارتباطات و فن آوری اعلام کرده اند که بر سر تامين اعتبارات اين پروژه با مشكلات فراوانی مواجهند زيرا دولت اعتبارات مشخصی را براي اين پروژه ملی تعيين نكرده است .

بنابر همین گزارش تصویب طرح های ملی توسط دولت بدون در نظر گرفتن منابع مالی آنها از مشکلات مدیران وزارت ارتباطات در شرایط کنونی است و این در حالی است که بودجه مراکز تحقیقاتی وزارت ارتباطات در سال جاری با کاهش قابل توجهی مواجهه بوده اند .

دولت در این طرح از وزارت ارتباطات و فن آوری خواسته است که نزدیک به پنج هزار و 660 ميليارد ريال از محل منابع داخلي و مراکز تحقیقاتی وزارت ارتباطات را طي سه سال جهت ايجاد اين شبكه سرمايه*گذاري كند.

این رقم بالای سرمایه گذاری بدون در نظر گرفتن منابع مالی مستقل و استفاده از بودجه داخلی تحقیقاتی وزارت ارتباطات در حالی است که کارشناسان ارتباطات معتقدند پروژه اینترنت ملی با این حجم بالای سرمایه گذاری در کاهش نرخ اينترنت و ارسال اطلاعات درون كشور تاثیر قابل توجهی نخواهد داشت .

[Rasputin]

جمعى از فعالان اجتماعى- مطبوعاتى با انتشار بيانيه*اى به ادامه بازداشت "مهدى بوترابى" مدير پرشين*بلاگ اعتراض كردند.

به گزارش "ايلنا"، در اين نامه آمده است: بار ديگر شنيدن خبرى ناخوشايند بسيارى از دلسوزان نظام را بهت*زده كرد. دكتر مهدى بوترابي، عضو سابق اتحاديه انجمن*هاى اسلامى دانشجويان و از فعالان خوشنام و متعهد جنبش دانشجويى در دهه 60 و دانش*آموخته ممتاز تاريخ از دانشگاه شهيد بهشتى چندى است كه به دلايل نامعلومى بازداشت شده است. به راستى جرم بوترابى چه بوده است؟ تاسيس بزرگ*ترين سايت فارسي*زبان و راه*اندازى بزرگ*ترين سرويس*دهنده وبلاگ فارسى به جوانان ايراني؟ آيا بايد بار ديگر اهميت وبلاگ*نويسى و نتايج مثبت ترويج اين فرهنگ در بين جوانان را گوشزد كرد؟ چه راهكار ديگرى مي*توان جايگزين وبلاگ*نويسى براى افزايش انگيزش مشاركت اجتماعى جوانان جست*وجو كرد؟ در پس دلسرد كردن فعالان عرصه وب و اطلاع*رسانى و گسستن اين علقه فرهنگى چه نيت*هايى پنهان مانده است؟ حقيقتا آيا مي*توان سخن از نوشتن و انديشيدن در عرصه وب و آشنا كردن ايرانيان با كتابت در عرصه اينترنت گفت و نامى از مهدى بوترابى نبرد و آيا غير از اين است كه بازداشت ناگهانى مهدى بوترابى پيام ناخوشايند را براى اهالى فرهنگ و مطبوعات مجازى و غيرمجازى دارد تا محدوده خويش را محدودتر كنند؟
اين بيانيه*اى مي*افزايد: سابقه مهدى بوترابى بر هيچ فعال سياسى و اجتماعى پوشيده نيست. آن روز يك پايش در جبهه*هاى جنگ و كيان اين مرز و بوم بود و پاى ديگرش در انجمن اسلامى دانشگاه شهيد بهشتى و در همه اين فعاليت*ها تعهد و اعتقاد خود را به مبانى عاليه دين اسلام و نظام جمهورى اسلامى ثابت كرده است و امروز هم با مديريت پرشين*بلاگ انديشه والاى خود در ساماندهى فكرى و اجتماعى نسل سوم و چهارم بعد از انقلاب را ثابت كرده است.
در ادامه اين بيانيه*اى آمده است: دغدغه*هاى او در برخورد با مسائل جوانان همواره او را به عنوان عنصرى دلسوز، پرتوان و اثرگذار در تمام عرصه*هايى كه حضور داشته، معرفى كرده است. بر همين اساس ما به عنوان جمعى از فعالان اجتماعى عرصه مطبوعات و فضاى وب ضمن ابراز نگرانى از وضعيت ايشان، آزادى سريع وى را از مقامات مسوول خواستاريم.
اين نامه به امضاى 211 از نفر فعالان اجتماعى و مطبوعاتى رسيده است.

[Rasputin]

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[Rasputin]

پرويزی گفت : در برخی موارد حتی وجود يک لينک هم ممکن است دردسرساز باشد و موجب مسدود شدن سايتی شود. به اين ترتيب افراد بايد در قبال لينک هايی که قرار می دهند جوابگو باشند.
حميد پرويزی - کارشناس فنی شرکت ارتباطات نوين، در گفتگو با خبرنگار مهر با بيان اين مطلب افزود : شرکت ارتباطات نوين سنگ بنای فيلترينگ در کشور را گذاشته است؛ کاری که در نهايت بايد صورت بگيرد. مهم روشی است که بايد در برخورد با مخاطبان در پيش گرفت.

وی ادامه داد : ما بايد امکانی را هم قرار دهيم تا نظر مردم را دريافت کنيم؛ خواه از طريق تلفن و خواه از طريق پست الکترونيک. از مردم می خواهيم مشکلات شان را به ما اطلاع دهند. با اين همه در شرايط کنونی و با توجه با دانش فنی موجود "شرکت ارتباطات نوين" بهترين روش را برای فيلترينگ به کار گرفته ايم.

اين کارشناس به مردم توصيه کرد : صاحبان سايت ها و وبلاگ ها نبايد به سايت هايی که قبلا فيلتر شده اند لينک بدهند. مردم می پرسند چرا نبايد اين کار را بکنند و می گويند چه اهميتی دارد که به سايتی که فيلتر شده است لينک بدهند ، در حالی که بايد بدانند ما از تکنيک فنی خاصی در تشخيص سايت های غير اخلاقی و آن سايت هايی که بايد بسته شوند استفاده می کنيم.

وی در توضيح اين تکنيک گفت : مثلا "ربات فيلترينگ " سايتی را می خواند و کلمات غير اخلاقی را که در آن وجود دارد گريد (طبقه بندی) می کند. در اين ميان به خاطر شباهت لفظی هم ممکن است برخی کلمات مانند " پلاستيک" هم علامت گذاری شود. اين سری کلمات اگر از يک حدی در سايت بيشتر باشد آن سايت علامت گذاری می شود.

پرويزی در مورد ملاک علامت گذاری اين کلمات در يک متن ، گفت : اگر کلمات مورد نظر "ربات فيلترينگ" در زير تصاوير و يا عنوان مطالب وجود داشته باشد با تکنيک هايی که اين ربات دارد شناسايی می شود. اين سايت پنجاه درصد نمره منفی کسب می کند؛ البته بلوکه نمی شود بلکه علامت گذاری می شود.

وی خاطرنشان کرد : در اينجا ما مرحله سنجشی داريم که طی آن لينک های داده شده به سايت های فيلتر شده را بررسی می کنيم که اين کار هم از سوی ربات صورت می گيرد. وقتی سايتی مريض باشد به سايت های مشابه خود لينک می دهد و ربات بعد از خواندن اين لينک ها سايت را مسدود می کند.

وی در مورد فوايد اين شيوه فيلترينگ گفت : ما از اين طريق تشخيص می دهيم چه سايتی مسئله دار است. از طرفی ديگر مردم وارد سايت هايی که اعلام می کند حاوی مطالب برای مخاطب "18+" است نمی شوند. ما از اين طريق می خواهيم مشترک خانگی را که در اينترنت دچار سردرگمی می شود از اين مشکلات رها کنيم.

حميد پرويزی در ادامه با پذيرش اين نکته که درصد خطای اين سيستم بسيار بالاست افزود : برای قضاوت در مورد اين سيستم بايد از ديد ماشين نگاه کنيد. اگر هر کس ديگری هم مسئول فيلترينگ شود ممکن است خطاهای خود را داشته باشد. افراد متخصصی در مورد اين روش نظر داده اند. ما حتی اگر از آن طرف دنيا هم کسانی را برای اين کار به ايران بياوريم همين مشکلات را خواهيم داشت. اين بالاترين حدی است که دانش فيلترينگ به آن رسيده است و شايد اگر گروه ديگری اين کار را انجام دهد با روش ديگری عمل کند.

وی تصريح کرد : مشکلات حقوقی اين کار هم بحثی است که به شرکت ارتباطات نوين مربوط نمی شود و ما تنها مجری سياست ها هستيم . البته اين کار ايرادهای زيادی دارد. زمانی که اين کار را به ما سپردند حجم کار ما تا اين اندازه نبود و ما ناچار از اين هستيم که کار را به صورت مکانيزه انجام دهيم.

کارشناس فنی شرکت اراتباطات نوين با ارائه پيشنهاد به مردم ، گفت : اگر می خواهيد به سايتی که قبلا فيلتر شده است لينک بدهيد آدرس صفحه مورد نظر را بعد از اسلش ( / ) قرار دهيد.

[Rasputin]

Iran's big brother for bloggers

Want to start a blog in Iran? Then you'll have to register it with the government - which has recently begun to require that all bloggers register at samandehi****, a site established by the ministry of culture of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.
All you need do is give your personal information, including your blog's username and password - otherwise it will be filtered and blocked so that nobody in Iran, and perhaps outside too, will be able to access it. This has led to an outcry among many Iranian bloggers who consider the net an independent and free forum for expression.

You might think that's only going to inconvenience a few people - but you'd be wrong: Iran has nearly a million bloggers, around 10% of whom are active, according to Mehdi Boutorabi, manager of the Persianblog free blog hosting service.
His company, the first such service founded in Iran, now hosts more than 780,000 Persian blogs; and the blog search engine Technorati now lists Farsi, Iran's native language, among the top 10 languages used online.

And not everyone is going along. Parastoo Dokouhaki, a renowned blogger who writes on womens' rights, has put a banner on her blog at parastood**** which reads: "I will not register my site!" (It's been made available for others to copy).

Government clampdowns

Consequently, her blog is filtered in Iran. Many bloggers who have fallen foul of the government clampdowns have subsequently put the same banner in their web pages.

But censorship isn't just for blogs. Most of Iran's reformist newspapers have been shut down, rooftop satellite dishes are banned, books are censored and relationships between boys and girls are limited. Yet blogs also play a major - even growing - role in modern Iranian society. This is why almost all the leading candidates for Iran's last presidential election ran their own blogs.

Acknowledging the influence of blogging in Iran, President Ahmadinejad launched his own blog last year even while his government cracked down on bloggers. The president's blog is available in Farsi, English, French and Arabic; he is aiming at an international audience.

What has the president got to say? "I am sorry to say that the American people are kept in an absolute censorship concerning the outside world by their government," he wrote in March.

"I am certain if the American people know where and on what, their tax money is spent, even the strong supporters of the government would not stand it and rush to the street to show their opposition in regard to that issue," he went on, responding to a letter apparently from an American mother claiming her son was forcibly taken and sent to Iraq.

In response, comments seem to be unfailingly positive and respectful: "Do you think we could all live together peacefully in this world if the Americans stopped aggressive interference in other countries?" asks one apparently English commenter.

Blogging's influence in Iran is undeniable. Recently, when Seyed Reza Shokrollahi found that his friend Yaghoub Yadali, an Iranian writer, had been held illegally in jail for 40 days, he blogged it (at khabgard.com); he got 5,000 hits. The next day the link had been spread through the Iranian blogosphere and into newspapers' headlines. Finally, the government was forced to release him.

Space for dissent

Blogging in Iran is not confined to particular groups. Even clergymen and hardliners who once viewed it as an "opposition" activity today have blogs of their own - along with gays and lesbians, who have their own communities online.

"In Iran there is no place to talk about your homosexuality except in your blog. Now I have hundreds of Iranian gay friends who are bloggers. When I read about their feelings in their blogs I'm healed that I'm not alone in the country," says one Iranian gay blogger writing at hamzaaad.blogspot.com.

And blogs also give a space for dissent - as happened when the British sailors were taken captive earlier this year. "Fifteen British sailors were captured, so what? Then sanctions are increased, Iran Industrial Ministry prohibited, domestic banks' relations with foreigners ceased, we were condemned in UN and the next vessel came to the Persian Gulf again in result of that," wrote Omid Valinasab, an Iranian blogger at iwishpolitic.blogfa.com, denouncing the government for the detainment.

But the biggest problem most Iranian bloggers face is filtering. Using a search engine in Iran usually means being confronted again and again with a screen saying: "Dear customer, access to this site is forbidden."

And this happens not when searching for sex, but using a phrase like "les livres" (books). The first time, it can be surprising. But persist, and you'll hit the wall of internet filtering again and again for words such as "stocking", "honey" and "teen".

Are French books forbidden? Well, some are, but in this case it seems you have to blame the close orthography of the French article to the word "lesbian".

Breeding innovation

But it's not just searches that can disappear behind the wall. The prizewinning novelist Reza Ghassemi, now based in France, woke up one morning and found his site (rezaghassemi.org) of the past six years simply banned.

From getting more than 6,000 hits per day, the post-filter number was around 300. He didn't know who to complain to, or why; only later did others remind him - and in the end persuade him - that the reason was the presence of a file package, titled Eroticism in literature, displayed on his website. The censor had noticed it and cut his site off.

But the move has also demonstrated one of the internet's strengths, and even borne out the way in which necessity breeds innovation. Ghassemi, like many of his colleagues, found that the clampdowns in Iran on the publication of physical books made it wiser to publish his latest novel in the form of an ebook. Bloggers have welcomed it, reviewing it as though it had been published in paper form.

For clever users, filtering sounds pointless: thousands of proxy sites distribute the net's wider content to blogs or emails. But self-censorship is already affecting journalists, writers and intellectuals who fear prosecution.

Whether the bloggers can fare any better remains to be seen; but what's clear is that they are all there, trying, working away at the edges that let the rest of the world creep through to tell Iran what the rest of the world is thinking, saying and doing.