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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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7

Web Users Worldwide Help Iranians Thwart Censors

Expatriates, Pirate Bay work to get information on protests out of Iran

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(Newser) – Iranians are using every trick in the book to get information past the country's tight censorship of the Internet and to the outside world—and the outside world is doing its best to help, CNET reports. Sympathizers have set up a huge number of proxy servers to help disseminate information about the nation's protests, making life much harder for censors trying to block sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Large populations of Iranians living abroad are helping those at home bypass government filters, and notorious file-sharing site The Pirate Bay has offered technical help. "Democracy is the supporting pillar of society. This is exactly what we think is so important about the Internet," said a spokesman for the site, which has temporarily changed its logo to "The Persian Bay."

The Pirate Bay, whose operators have been convicted of copyright violations, has offered tech assistance to Iranians seeking to bypass Internet censors. It's been temporarily redubbed The Persian Bay.
The Pirate Bay, whose operators have been convicted of copyright violations, has offered tech assistance to Iranians seeking to bypass Internet censors. It's been temporarily redubbed The Persian Bay.   (The Pirate Bay)
A photo of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi rests next to a broken computer monitor in a room in a Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces.
A photo of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi rests next to a broken computer monitor in a room in a Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces.   (AP photo)
A supporter of pro-reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi covers her face with a green piece of cloth during a rally in Tehran yesterday.
A supporter of pro-reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi covers her face with a green piece of cloth during a rally in Tehran yesterday.   (AP Photo/Fars news agency,)
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What makes this situation different from others and is driving a lot of it is that you have a very large and vibrant online and blogger community of Iranians outside the country. - Daniel Calingaert, director of programs at human rights group Freedom House

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7 comments
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myvoice
Jun 18, 09 8:12 AM CDT
You think Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave right now? Too bad we didn't have the internet during the 80's. To me this makes Americans look pathetic, when come to the first Bush election! Maybe we should have had revolution then...how many lives would have been saved if we could have forced him out in 2001? Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
2-bits
Jun 18, 09 12:04 PM CDT
1) If we had any idea how this would end, we might have. The difference between Bush in 2001 (When he was relatively well liked) and Bush in 2006 (when he was disliked by the majority of Americans) is pretty big. A lot of facts about what he and his cronies were up to (not to mention the *precise* details of what was going on during the 2000 election) didn't come out until much later. I mean, the Iraq war didn't even start until 2003!
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psycada
Jun 18, 09 2:52 PM CDT
emmmm, what? We knew the day after the election that it was stolen. What more was needed to be known? They just think it was stolen in Iran and they are protesting more than American knows how to.
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TerrifiedCitizen
Jun 18, 09 12:44 PM CDT
The web makes an end-play around all of the controlled media; why do you think the pentagon's taking it over here? Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
justme
Jun 18, 09 2:36 PM CDT
Conspiracy theories again. The pentagon is hiring the best it can get to fight cyber pirates worldwide. Should they just let people break into their sites?
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+1

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