According to the BBC:
People charged for having illegal internet sites…will be put on trial soon,” said a judiciary spokesman.Web journals flourish in Iran where the youthful, reform-hungry population has gone online for news and entertainment.
The popularity of the internet has grown as hardline judges closed about 100 printed publications since 2000….
“We do not know where they are being held. We heard they have been kept in solitary confinement,” a relative is quoted as saying.
Correspondents say Iran has a poor record of press freedom, with more journalists behind bars than in any other Middle Eastern country.
The head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, announced new laws specifically covering “cyber crimes” on Monday, AFP reported.
According to the law, “anyone who disseminates information aimed at disturbing the public mind through computer systems or telecommunications…would be punished in accordance with the crime of disseminating lies”. (My emphasis)
Not-really-related: Just One Minute blogs about the Bush “Special Olympics” flyer. Western culture, though superior, is obviously on the decline. I don’t know what took me so long to discover Scrappleface. Funny stuff.
