Iran Outlaws Broadband

The Iranian regime, ever vigilant for the tentacles of "Great Satans" everywhere has been "fortunate enough" to spot one early on before it "infected" households everywhere. In a bid to restrict foreign music, films, and television from undermining the Islamic culture among the younger generation, ISPs have been ordered to restrict connection speeds to 128kbs and restrict broadband outright. Apparently high-speed internet will only serve up those "evil" western ideas that much faster and rot the brains of the "egalitarian" society that the Ayatollahs have worked so hard since 1979 to create.

In a country where the legal voting age is 15yo, the lowest in the world, and where Iranian youth make up an estimated 75% of the population, most of whom were born AFTER 1979, the Iranian authorities are struggling to keep their Islamic Revolution alive.

The move will also limit the ability of opposition groups to organize and upload data and information that may also help to undermine the Islamic regime.

Ramazan-ali Sedeghzadeh, chairman of the parliamentary telecommunications committee, notes that this latest step will hamper Iran’s progress. "Every country in the world is moving towards modernisation and a major element of this is high-speed internet access," he said. "The country needs it for development and access to contemporary science." The move has also drawn widespread condemnation from ISPs, academics, and other MPs, and they are in the process of submitting a petition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad branding the ban as "backwards and unrpincipled."

"If you want to announce a gathering in advance, you won’t see it mentioned on official websites and newspapers would announce it too late, " writes Parastoo Dokoohaki, a prominent Iranian blogger. "Therefore, you upload it anonymously and put the information out. Banning high-speed links would limit that facility. Despite having the telecoms facilities, fibre-optic technology and internet infrastructure, the authorities want us to be undeveloped."

What this means for the ability of the people of Iran to succeed in the digital age is quite clear, as it further strangles their ability to communicate and advance in both thought and technology. In the meantime I guess the authorities get to party "like it’s 1979."

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