Windows on Iran

“Windows on Iran Online Community Cover Rebellion, Post by Post” was the name of the article in this Sunday Bergen Record, by Ashley Kingergan. The article image alone caught my eye. It shows a man’s silhouette against the computer monitor (the interface) with pictures of the conditions in Iran in the background. This made me refer back to the reading in “Windows and Mirrors.” The image alone of the computer interface being used as a window shows transparency into a forbidden country. The author writes how groups are being formed in the comfort of private homes, coffee shops, and around the country, through blogging, YouTube, and Twitter. The main purpose is to share photos and videos of opposition protest in Iran. Since the Iranian government has a block on most internet use in Iran, it is hard for these groups to obtain information. I found it interesting that the best source of communicating is through cell phones. Students are able to capture the video on their phones and send them to these groups, who then post on blogs, and on the internet. Since the internet is blocked in Iran, the Censorship Research Center has monitored the blocks placed on the internet in Iran and has developed a new technology called “Haystack” that would allow users inside Iran to hide their internet use. Haystack does two things. It encrypts the data and coats the data to look like normal traffic. This would be a great boost for these countries with these blocks and will also help the privacy rights for internet users. My question still remains who controls cyberspace? It is the one that holds the filters .