Why did Iran chose to restrict internet access?”
Internet access, particularly in Tehran, has even developed in recent years to a level of sophistication that exceeds that of some European nations. The Guardian reported in February 2002 that ParsOnline, one of the biggest internet service providers in Iran, was offering “Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) connections at 2 Mbps [megabits per second], four times faster than that available to home users here, and for people out of ADSL catchments area, there are wireless links available, running at 5Mbps, something unheard of in the UK.”(11) Moreover, in the words of an Iranian computer store employee, “…there is a sort of fever here in Iran. All the families who can afford it have a computer. All of the children are taking classes, and we sell a lot of educational software.”(12) In an economy dominated by the government, the demand for computer technology is an indication of the growing private technology market and a manifestation of deep-seated changes in Iranian society. It e
Iranian authorities have slowed Internet connections to a crawl or choked them off completely before expected student protests Monday to deny the opposition a vital means of communication. In another familiar tactic before such rallies, authorities have ordered journalists working for foreign media organizations not to leave their offices to cover the demonstrations. Iran’s beleaguered opposition has sought to maintain momentum with periodic demonstrations coinciding with state-sanctioned events. Monday’s rallies will take place on a day that normally marks a 1953 killing of three students at an anti-U.S. protest. Since the 1990s, the day has served as an occasion for pro-reform protests. Students are at the center of the opposition to Iran’s clerical regime and its brutal crackdown on demonstrators protesting what they believed was a fraudulent presidential election in June. The opposition, which relies on the Web and cell phone service to organize rallies and get its message out, has
