Internet

January 5 Update: Here’s what I edited for Deutsche Welle today: Contrary to reports, Belarus plans no Internet censorhip So I was perusing tech news online today and I came across this IDG news story: “Belarus said to restrict access to foreign websites.” Belarus has introduced a law that imposes restrictions on citizens and residents in the country visiting or using foreign websites, according to Global Legal Monitor, an online publication of the Law Library of Congress in Washington. Under…

In recent days there has been a great bruhaha over Haystack, the anti-censorship software aimed to help Iranians inside of Iran. On September 2, 2010, Evgeny Morozov, a journalist colleague of mine, and online columnist for Foreign Policy magazine, wrote a thought-provoking piece about Haystack. In it, he called into question how Haystack works and argued that in fact, Haystack may be dangerous to Iranians, given that no one knows precisely how Haystack works except its two creators Austin Heap and Dan Colascione. …

Step one: Order a new free SIM card from NetzClub, a new MVNO from O2. Select the “Handy Internet Flat” option. The catch is they provide you with free Internet in exchange for text advertising. Step two: Buy an O2 Surfstick. I bought mine directly from their website for €34 shipped. It’s unlocked. It comes with an O2 SIM card, and five free days of 3G access — otherwise it’s prepaid €3.50 per day (midnight to midnight). Step three: Download…

I don’t know if Barrett Sheridan wrote his Newsweek piece, “The Internet Helps Build Democracies” in response to or independent of Evgeny Morozov’s recent piece in Foreign Policy (Think Again: The Internet ; May/June 2010). Still, it sort of amazes me that this techno-utopianism (or as Evgeny puts it, “iPod liberalism“) still persists, at least amongst smart, internationally-minded journalists like Barrett Sheridan. I mean, I get why popular opinion might come to this conclusion, and maybe even some well-intentioned policymakers.…

Dear Friends, My piece on the release of Haystack, the new anti-filtering software for use in Iran will be on today’s show. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH…

On March 18, 2009, Omid Reza Mirsayafi died in a Tehran prison. I reported on it at the time for PRI’s The World. [audio:http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/0319097.mp3] Sadly, Mirsayafi’s reputation will now live on as becoming the first blogger in the world to die while in custody. Unfortunately the Islamic Republic of Iran has not only this “honor” of allowing an imprisoned blogger to die, but also is the first country in the world to jail a blogger — Sina Motalebi in 2003.…

I had the honor of being interviewed by Jesse Brown on his TVO show, “Search Engine“, to provide an update on the Treasury Department’s new rules regarding American tech companies exporting stuff to Iran (and Cuba and Sudan). The interview that I recorded with Austin Heap was recorded on March 8, 2010 and was conducted by Jason Margolis for a piece that aired later that day. [audio:http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/800823_48k.mp3] Here’s some related links, including the March 8, 2010 text from the Federal…

Dear Friends, My piece on watching the 22nd of Bahman protests with Austin Heap, Roozbeh Pournader and Behrang Barzin live from Parisoma will be on today’s show. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston –…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my piece on Google’s new policy towards China will be airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): NYC – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH – 89.7 FM –…

I’m a few days behind on this one, but FP Passport has a link to a new announcement for a new application that “will allow users in Iran to download and send content to [Voice of America]’s Persian News Network with their iPhones.” I don’t really have much to add beyond what David Kenner aptly wrote: I’m sure that this initiative was begun with the best of intentions. However, there’s only one problem — oh, who am I kidding, there…