Iran Feature: Challenging the Plans for the "National Internet" (Arseh Sevom)

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A brief summary of the state of the project:

• Construction of a national internet continues. If anything, the regime is even more dedicated to its implementation given recent proclamations from the Supreme Leader;
• It seems clear that Iran has been getting outside support for the development of its national internet;
• Many inside Iran have begun receiving text messages urging them to register for IranMail (http://mail.iran.ir/register/?module=new). Registration requires the use of a valid national identification number;
• Bloggers and owners of websites are being forced to register with a national system;
• NGOs are now being asked to register with a national network;
• Internet bandwidth is controlled by the state;
• Five million sites are blocked;
• Twenty-nine netizens have been arrested and some are facing the death penalty;
• Justifications for Iran’s construction of a national internet are the need for “national security,” echoing the justifications for surveillance given by democratic governments.

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Iran Feature: How Google Reader's "Tweak" May Cut Iranian Access (Perez)

The law of unintended consequences... When a company as large and as important as Google makes changes, seemingly minor tweaks can have massive repercussions. While most people in the West may have to deal with a slightly different interface (for better or for worse), the consequences elsewhere may be far more profound.

Tech Crunch writer Sarah Perez writes that in Iran, new changes to Google's RSS reader may cut Iranian dissidents off from a major line of communication, one that the government of Iran has yet to shut down.

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