The New York Times has a great story about the rise of Internet usage in Iran, the increasingly futile efforts to stop it, and the ways in which people are using the Internet to undermine the ruling autocrats. Some interesting excerpts:
"The intention is to filter or stop sites with immoral content or that contradict our social values," said Hussein Shariatmadari, the publisher of the newspaper Kayhan, which often reflects the views of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "In fact, these sites are readily available. It's like removing a ladder leaning against a building so a bird won't fly off the roof." . . .
Sites that mock the clergy--they might refer to a leading ayatollah as "His Mullah Highness"--are among the most popular here. One new site, set up outside the country by an exile political party, posts photographs contrasting the somewhat glamorous court of the late shah with the drab public face of the ruling theocracy. . . .
There has also been an explosion of Web logs. Service providers estimate that roughly 50,000 such personal diaries are published in Farsi [Ed. - 50,000!], discussing topics ranging from art and movies, to music, computers and everything else. Web specialists say that among the 10 most visited sites, at least 6 either feature nudity or offer links to other sites that do.
Read the story here.