MATTHEW MEEHAN
It has been reported that Iran will, within the next two years, shut down its open internet source to cut out "western influences" and keep the people focused on Islamic virtues.
Eleven percent of Iran's citizens have access to the internet. The plan is to begin running the state-controlled system parallel to the current open source to gain some "fanboys". Until this point alarm bells were ringing in my head to the chant of "Egypt!" The Iranian government obviouly haven't taken into account the trouble 'turning off' the internet can cause.
It strikes me as a softer approach to that of the shutting down of Egypt's internet, albeit barely. The people with internet access will be forced to use a non-Microsoft OS, operating system, and a self developed alternative to Google. It's name you ask? Guess. No, not Yahoo.. No, not Ask. *Drum roll* ladies and gentlemen, it shall be called, "Ya Hagh"!
In my honest opinion this will not work, any government that tries to censor the internet deserves to be overthrown. Several rebel groups have already voiced their concerns on social networking sites, most of them young people who are unwilling to be cut off from the rest of the world. One 20 year old law student in Iran stated on twitter that "without the internet, no one can tell the world what is happening in our country. We will not stand for it. We will fight if we have to.
It seems to me that this is just an extreme step to completely cut off Wikileaks from the Iranian people. This is just my speculation and opinion though. Draw your own conclusions.
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