Censoring Begins At Home: Iran Announces Plans To Build Its Own Internet, Operating System
from the Anonymous-says-O-RLY? dept
Iran's government has decided to push past regular villainy and head straight for cartoonish super-villainy with its plan to build its own internet. Being one of the "most sophisticated nations in online censoring" just isn't enough these days, what with every "civilized" nation pushing its own brand of censorship. It looks as if Iran has decided that if the internet is too difficult to regulate, it may be easier to start from the ground floor.Iran is promoting its national internet as a "cost-saving measure for consumers and a way to uphold Islamic moral codes." This will operate in parallel with the existing internet before making the switch to IOL or whatever this new censornet will be called. The roll-out is going quickly, with 60% of Iran's homes and businesses migrating "soon," with the entire country due to be completely severed from the rest of the world "within two years."
The Iranian government is also looking to install a new basement (if we follow the "new internet = "ground floor" analogy -- and I guess we will). It intends to roll out its own operating system to replace Windows within the coming months. Ali Aghamohammadi, the Iranian Head of Economic Affairs, has expressed his confidence that the government-approved internet and operating system will also be deployed by other Muslim countries.
This bit of dismaying news had no sooner graced the pages of the un-Iranian internet when information surfaced that Anonymous had hacked the Iranian government's computers. The "group" succeeded in harvesting 10,000 email messages from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs containing "approvals and rejections for a variety of visas and passports, among other requests, and correspondence."
In addition, Anonymous is planning a day-long DDoS attack to commemorate the anniversary of the 2009 elections, which saw Ahmadinejad doing everything from shutting down Facebook access to ordering the torching of an opponent's campaign office.
Whether these actions will hasten or delay the implementation of the Iran-only internet remains to be seen. Iran has only stated that it will be rolled out "soon," wording, which is vague enough that either side can claim it acheived its goals. As more anti-government activity flares up in nearby regions, usually accompanied by a shutdown of communication services, it would surprise exactly no one if other like-minded countries begin to view Iran as their ISP of choice.
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Filed Under: censorship, hacking, internet, iran, operating system
Reader Comments
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Wow...
/facepalm
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Bored?
Probably they'll just use their private Iranternet to upload videos of the Muslim faithful stoning women and homosexuals to IranTube.
Whatever
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Well, it's a small price for a proper internet that works as it should, not being able to discuss or speak about the misdeeds of the government.
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Warrant-less domain takedowns are just the beginning.
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Before the Internet
And the Internet was originally designed as a way to bridge several disparate networks (thus the name Internet). That it ended up replacing them is a tribute to how well it works.
So, if Iran creates a new national network, it will end up being interconnected to the Internet via gateways, exactly like happened in the past.
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Not the Prince of Persia I'd hoped for, this Ahmedinejad
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Re: Not the Prince of Persia I'd hoped for, this Ahmedinejad
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Yeah, because every other country in the Middle East trusts Iran implicitly.
While this appears to be more of a rebranding exercise than anything (it's apparently based on Linux), it's probably a good time, in advance of the inevitable hack attacks that will follow, to remember Schneier's Law
Any person can invent a security system so clever that he or she can't imagine a way of breaking it.
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Re Censorship Begins at Home
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Re: Before the Internet
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Now everyone is going to want their own internet
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"...iAllah Search Results for 'Women's Parental Rights'
Result 1: Infidel! You should not look at such things!
Result 2: Infidel! You should not look at such things!
Result 2: Infidel! You should not look at such things!
Search Suspended. Your activities have been logged. Please remain stationary while a consultant is arranged to visit with you..."
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Finally a TECH story
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Re: Finally a TECH story
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Re:
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Internet
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I highly doubt any of the surrounding nations in that region will be using Iran as an ISP any time soon, even the terrifyingly ignorant ones. But if they're successful in securing Iranternet and keeping the unwanted out and hiding their dirty laundry, Sony might be throwing a few security contracts their way.
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BSoD
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Al Gore
Isn't Al Gore gonna be pissed?
Al did invent the whole interweb thingy in the first place...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnFJ8cHAlco
On second thought - he might like having his name on all of it:
Al-Browser
Al-Office
Al-OS
;)
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Re: Re: Finally a TECH story
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You know...
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Re: You know...
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Re: Finally a TECH story
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Re: Re: Before the Internet
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Hilarious and inevitable
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Re: Re: Re: Finally a TECH story
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Re: Hilarious and inevitable
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Re: Now everyone is going to want their own internet
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Cool
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http://theamericano.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/An-Iranian-woman-at-a-pro-006.jpg
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Re:
Then, we tell them, EVERYONE has been forced to use the new network. They will see no music or other content being shared on their RIAA.net and the piracy problem will be solved!
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Re:
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Hey Iran, hire me!
As your consultant I would have to point out a couple of caveats. You will never be able to drop the parallel network plan. A TCP/IP network connected to the rest of the world will always be needed for business, scientific research, and for your government to keep tabs on world news, foreign governments, and ex-pat dissidents. Finally, I must advise you that separating your network from the internet may spark a backlash among the general populace which will end up countering the effect you desire. You cannot erase the knowledge of the existence of the internet. Although your government clearly understands the dangers of unfiltered information to it's people and itself, you cannot suppress the inherent curiosity that exists in all cultures.
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Re:
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Its more about monitoring what people do online, and controlling communications. Which is great for the US, 1 day, 1 packet sniffer, and total control over the Iraninan internet.
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Personally I'm amazed no one has done this before. If it succeeds it won't just be Muslim countries following suit. China will be close behind, followed swiftly by France. Except France will ban all non-Microsoft OSs or invent a special tax for them.
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God bless iran
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