Caught in the Net: Iran’s Web Connection

Iran’s Islamic government has ordered the country’s Internet service providers to restrict connection speeds for the country’s 5 million Web users to 128 kilobits per second, or 25 times slower than high-speed broadband. Most businesses apparently will be exempt. A spokesman for the government says the decision was taken to curtail a Western "cultural invasion." ...

Iran's Islamic government has ordered the country's Internet service providers to restrict connection speeds for the country's 5 million Web users to 128 kilobits per second, or 25 times slower than high-speed broadband. Most businesses apparently will be exempt. A spokesman for the government says the decision was taken to curtail a Western "cultural invasion." But some Iranian politicians worry that the decision will only stymie the country's economy. "The country needs [high-speed Internet] for [its] development," said Ramazan-ali Sedeghzadeh, head of the parliament’s telecom committee.

Iran’s Islamic government has ordered the country’s Internet service providers to restrict connection speeds for the country’s 5 million Web users to 128 kilobits per second, or 25 times slower than high-speed broadband. Most businesses apparently will be exempt. A spokesman for the government says the decision was taken to curtail a Western "cultural invasion." But some Iranian politicians worry that the decision will only stymie the country’s economy. "The country needs [high-speed Internet] for [its] development," said Ramazan-ali Sedeghzadeh, head of the parliament’s telecom committee.

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