Last week's reports that Iran was in the process of shutting down the country's access to the Internet sparked a firestorm of stories across the Web. In response, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in Iran has called these reports a hoax and declared them a product of the propaganda wing of the West.
Hoax or not, this story raised some very real and valid questions surrounding the possibility for a country like Iran to shut down the Internet in order to gain more control over information from the outside world, and what information can make it out of the country. And it should be a call to the country's citizens to start considering alternate means of access.
Given the role that social media have played in uprisings in other Arab countries, there is little question as to why Iran would want to cut off access to the Internet, or at least the majority of it. Iran has already begun development of its own national information network, described as a closed network, which would severely limit access to the Internet by only allowing sites that have been white-listed by the government. Though no timeframe is known regarding a launch date for Iran's national network, there are several reports that it is in beta.
Limiting access to the Web is nothing new for Iran. In the past, the government has blocked sites with political content that's out of step with its worldview. At times, Iran has also blocked all sites that use the HTTPS protocol, basically eliminating any service someone would have to sign into. Many of the nation's Internet users have been able to use software to bypass the Iran firewall in the past. However, these workarounds are becoming less reliable as Iran continues to crack down on access.
With Iran's firewall becoming more difficult for its citizens to get through, and the looming threat of a closed network replacing the Internet hanging overhead, alternate means of communication will become a necessity.
One of the options for the people of Iran, if the government goes forward with its plan for a national, closed network, would be to establish their own "Darknets" -- or alternative networks that operate beneath the Internet's backbone. Though Darknets tend to have a reputation as spaces for illegal activity, they can also be a means of anonymous communication, which the citizens of Iran might very well be able to use to their advantage.
It has become clear that the power of the Internet is something that some governments fear. If the time comes when Iran really does decide that it wants to cut off the nation from the Internet, not only will its people lose access to the outside world, but much of the outside world will have limited access to information from Iran, and that will be a loss on both sides.
Probably a hidden Wireless network in the open spectrum (2.4, 5.8) - so maybe WiFi. Although the weakest link are probably the users, someone leaking the information.
Hm... I understand- Iranian authorities want to shut down the Internet to prevent the riots, the social media coordinated riots- but may be it will be much worser- people get used to the Internet- so if it is shut down- who knows what the reaction will be?
Actually, if I wanted to stop all the citizen movement I would encourage the using of Internet and on-line games for example- so people would be absolutelly on-line creatures:)
Besides satellite's what other way's could Iran setup a darknet that the government wouldn't know about? Running cable is going to be seen, so I'm assuming something with wireless (wi-max)?
there have been work arounds for the firewall, but like anything they get blocked after a while, but if Iran were to shut down completely then it would be much more difficult to find a way through the firewall.
Much like how company Intranets work, it seems that Iran is attempting to create their own privatized internet that they controll just like a company intranet. While I see this as being a viable means in which iran can control access to the information to the geneneral masses, however controlling access to information through other communication means such as satellite communication channels that some companies may have access to.
You are right, Iran is not the first, and will not the last. The case in North Korea is rather interesting. Reports indicate that many people in the country do not even know what the internet is, as only a handfull of high ranking people in the government have access to it. They also have thier own close intranet, but not all the citizens even have access to that.
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