slower speeds are adequate and that there is no demand for higher speeds. 15 Iran is the
only country in the world to have instituted an explicit cap on Internet access speed
for households.
Efforts to gain control over the Internet were already under way in 2001, when the
government of Iran asserted control over all Internet access points coming into the
country. 16 Commercial ISPs in Iran that offer Internet connectivity to the public are
required to connect through the state-controlled Telecommunication Company of
Iran (TCI). 17 OpenNet Initiative research corroborates that ISPs offering Internet service to the public all connect through TCI. The other international connections to the
Internet are associated with research and academic organizations. Designing the Internet infrastructure around a government-managed gateway—rare for a country with
this many Internet users—offers a central point of control that facilitates the implementation of Internet filtering and monitoring of Internet use.
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
Speech regulation in Iran is rooted in its constitution, which declares that ‘‘the media
should be used as a forum for healthy encounter of different ideas, but they must
strictly refrain from diffusion and propagation of destructive and anti-Islamic practices.’’ 18 Applying these principles to the Internet has proven to be difficult. A number
of government regulatory initiatives have been launched over the past decade to assert
control over online communications, although the legal status of Web sites and blogs
continues to be contested.
The legal and institutional basis for the technical filtering system in Iran grew out of
a series of decrees passed down by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution
(SCRC) in December 2001 that required ISPs to employ filtering systems. 19 An interagency committee, the Committee in Charge of Determining Unauthorized Sites
(CCDUS), was set up a year later to set criteria for identifying unauthorized Web
sites to be blocked. 20 This committee also decides on the blocking of specific domains.
The SCRC issues guidelines to this committee and oversees committee members, who
include representatives of MICT, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
(MCIG), the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security, and the Tehran Prosecutor
General. 21
The implementation of the filtering decisions is charged to a filtering division within
the Information Technology Company of Iran (ITC), an agency under MICT. 22 Another agency, the Communication Infrastructure Company, has been given the task
of unifying filtering across Iran. 23
Iran has promoted the development of domestic tools and technical capacity to carry
out Internet filtering in order to reduce its reliance on Western technologies. Prior ONI
research reported the use of SmartFilter, a product of the U.S.–based firm Secure Com548
Iran
only country in the world to have instituted an explicit cap on Internet access speed
for households.
Efforts to gain control over the Internet were already under way in 2001, when the
government of Iran asserted control over all Internet access points coming into the
country. 16 Commercial ISPs in Iran that offer Internet connectivity to the public are
required to connect through the state-controlled Telecommunication Company of
Iran (TCI). 17 OpenNet Initiative research corroborates that ISPs offering Internet service to the public all connect through TCI. The other international connections to the
Internet are associated with research and academic organizations. Designing the Internet infrastructure around a government-managed gateway—rare for a country with
this many Internet users—offers a central point of control that facilitates the implementation of Internet filtering and monitoring of Internet use.
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
Speech regulation in Iran is rooted in its constitution, which declares that ‘‘the media
should be used as a forum for healthy encounter of different ideas, but they must
strictly refrain from diffusion and propagation of destructive and anti-Islamic practices.’’ 18 Applying these principles to the Internet has proven to be difficult. A number
of government regulatory initiatives have been launched over the past decade to assert
control over online communications, although the legal status of Web sites and blogs
continues to be contested.
The legal and institutional basis for the technical filtering system in Iran grew out of
a series of decrees passed down by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution
(SCRC) in December 2001 that required ISPs to employ filtering systems. 19 An interagency committee, the Committee in Charge of Determining Unauthorized Sites
(CCDUS), was set up a year later to set criteria for identifying unauthorized Web
sites to be blocked. 20 This committee also decides on the blocking of specific domains.
The SCRC issues guidelines to this committee and oversees committee members, who
include representatives of MICT, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
(MCIG), the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security, and the Tehran Prosecutor
General. 21
The implementation of the filtering decisions is charged to a filtering division within
the Information Technology Company of Iran (ITC), an agency under MICT. 22 Another agency, the Communication Infrastructure Company, has been given the task
of unifying filtering across Iran. 23
Iran has promoted the development of domestic tools and technical capacity to carry
out Internet filtering in order to reduce its reliance on Western technologies. Prior ONI
research reported the use of SmartFilter, a product of the U.S.–based firm Secure Com548
Iran