Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
The Internet Censorship Your Rights Online

Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards" 542

An anonymous reader writes A Grand Ayatollah in Iran has determined that access to high-speed and 3G Internet is "against Sharia" and "against moral standards." However, Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani, plans to renew licenses and expand the country’s 3G cellular phone network. A radical MP associated with the conservative Resistance Front, warned: “If the minister continues to go ahead with increasing bandwidth and Internet speed, then we will push for his impeachment and removal from the cabinet.” “We will vigorously prevent all attempts by the [communication] minister to expand 3G technology, and if our warnings are not heeded, then the necessary course of action will be taken,” he added.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards"

Comments Filter:
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:11PM (#47797833)

    ...then there's got to be something to it.

    • by The New Guy 2.0 ( 3497907 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:19PM (#47797871)

      Religion isn't always right... they don't teach facts, they teach opinions.

      • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:31PM (#47797921)

        Stupid opinions based on violent fairy tale books, at that.

      • by Chas ( 5144 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:52PM (#47798003) Homepage Journal

        HERETIC!

        *Chops of "The New Guy's" head*

        Respect my peaceful religion! OR ELSE!

        • Oh no! It's a holy war against the internet!

          I wonder how well that will work out. Will the internet fight back?

          • by sumdumass ( 711423 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @11:10PM (#47798081) Journal

            About as well as it did the last time..

            You see, letters in the hebrew language are also numbers. There is no W so V is used in it's place or in other words, V and W are interchangeable. It so happens that V is also 6 so when you type www, you are typing 666. That's right, every time to go on the World Wide Web, you are paying homage to the beast.

            That was the early rallying cry to why the internet was evil and should be removed. Of course some people who actually knew better checked up on those facts and it turns out a little different. [av1611.org]

            • by Nyder ( 754090 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @11:34PM (#47798191) Journal

              About as well as it did the last time..

              You see, letters in the hebrew language are also numbers. There is no W so V is used in it's place or in other words, V and W are interchangeable. It so happens that V is also 6 so when you type www, you are typing 666. That's right, every time to go on the World Wide Web, you are paying homage to the beast.

              That was the early rallying cry to why the internet was evil and should be removed. Of course some people who actually knew better checked up on those facts and it turns out a little different. [av1611.org]

              Except that 666 isn't the number of the beast, it's actually 616. Google it, number of sources other then the one I put down.

              http://theologica.ning.com/pro... [ning.com]

              • by jtownatpunk.net ( 245670 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @11:44PM (#47798231)

                When has "fact" had anything to do with religious outrage?

                • by theVarangian ( 1948970 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @06:58AM (#47799373)

                  When has "fact" had anything to do with religious outrage?

                  Religious outrage, racist outrage, nationalist outrage. They are all equally stupid. I have had a long series of strange discussions with people of all these denominations about the building of a Mosque in my town. The argumentation goes that: "Do you know how many Churches there are in Saudi Arabia? Have you seen what they are doing to Christians in Iraq!?! We must ban mosques immediately to prevent this from happening here before the Moslems rise up and impose Sharia law on all of us!!!". Really? Says I, for one thing our moslems are a small and moderate minority; how are they supposed to impose Sharia law on us (Answer: Uhhhhhhhhmmmmm.... Uhhhh.... I just fear that they just will!). Secondly I find it interesting that you are implying that one can use the stupidity and cruelty of people in other countries to justify doing stupid and cruel things to innocent people in your own country? In that case did you notice what the Serbs did to Moslems in Bosnia? Did you notice what the white patriotic christian knights of the Ku Klux Klan did to African Americans, Latinos and other minorities in the USA? We must ban Christianity immediately!!! Remarkably enough they considered equating all moslems with ISIS and banning Islam to be a reasonable and natural thing to do (even though the local moslem community is just about the most peaceful and law abiding group of people in our country) but they went absolutely apeshit when I applied their own logic to Christianity. It got even funnier when I pointed out that both the Serbs and the Ku Klux Klan are white and perhaps we should ban white people since most of the people involved in this discussion including my self were white. I just find it endlessly fascinating how the minds of these people work. They keep citing the Constitution when it supports their point of view but then they want to ban Moslems from practicing their religion, ban immigration of non-whites or put gay people in jail for offending christian fanatics everywhere by existing the Constitution can apparently be ignored.

                  • One might even suspect that the media pushes (or is pushed) to put Christianity in the best light and any other religion in a poor light because most of the country's political donors are Christian. It strengthens your base.

              • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                by sumdumass ( 711423 )

                And WWW is not 666 either.

                You might as well be saying the blue moon isn't blue for what it is worth. I mean the entire premise of the post was about misconceptions as the basis for a war against the internet.

              • by kamapuaa ( 555446 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @07:51AM (#47799597) Homepage

                Except no...a little Googling shows that first mention of the number is in a widely distributed book from 2nd century Christian author Irenaeus, who affirms that the number is 666, and mentions some texts with the wrong number. The only evidence for 616 is an old papyrus from the 3rd century. It may be the oldest known copy of the book of Revelations, but it wasn't the original copy, the text was written 150 years earlier. Furthermore, papyrus was valuable and was often re-used, so it may not even be the oldest known version of Revelations.

                In order to prove that the original number was 616, one would have to find either the original version of the text, or a large number of texts (from various locales) which wrote 616, or perhaps have a well-regarded and well-preserved early Christian author like Irenaeus or Augustine say that the actual number was 616.

              • I dialed this number, but the beast put me on hold listening to muzak.

      • by nitehawk214 ( 222219 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:56PM (#47798025)

        "isn't always right"

        More like "is almost always wrong with few exceptions."

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It has nothing to do with religion, they just want to keep the peoples in the dark age, so they can rule them.

      • Religion isn't always right... they don't teach facts, they teach opinions.

        This is unlikely to have much to do with either, and more with Ayatollah wishing to stay "Grand": a gatekeeper of Heaven who dictates to ignorant masses in the name of God. That doesn't really work if the masses aren't ignorant, and even more so if they get used to debating.

        In other words, power corrupts. It should really be regarded like super-heroin: no matter your initial purposes for getting it, you will be addicted and unwillin

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I am of the same opinion, and I can provide evidence.

      Around 1992-3, the Internet was operating at kB/s. It was fast enough for the Usenet and exchange of texts. There was very little junk, only one virus of note, and people were nice and out of the way to help. It encouraged reading, learning, communicating with real people and, in general, growing. Even slashdot, when it appeared, was interesting. The only thing that would break your concentration were talk (which you could turn off in your .bash_rc) and

      • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:48PM (#47797989)

        fake illegal downloads

        I'll have you know all my illegal downloads are real and the NSA will back me up on this.

        • I'll have you know all my illegal downloads are real and the NSA will back me up on this

          It's true, it's how we get all our software. And viruses.

          But when it comes to Jennifer Lawrence, we choose to go right to the source('s phone). Your stuff is totally boring.

          -The NSA

          • Discrimination! A virus is also software, how dare you be so racist towards them!

            -- PETCOM (People for the Ethical Treatment of COmputer Malware - All organisations need a crappy acronym name!)
      • by aevan ( 903814 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @12:58AM (#47798409)
        alt.binaries.erotica.*
      • So where is it (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Camael ( 1048726 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @01:40AM (#47798509)

        I am of the same opinion, and I can provide evidence. ...Fast forward to 2013. The Internet is operating at Gb/s speeds in the civilized countries and at Mb/s everywhere else. Most of the content in porn, spam, fake illegal downloads, various scams and viruses.

        So where is the "evidence" you claim to have? Your "evidence" seems to have originated from your gut. There is a lot less porn on the internet than you think [bbc.com]

        The dubious provenance of statistics about porn are well-known inside the tech industry.

        "We are aware that a number of statistics are being used in relation to online safety and have concerns over their accuracy," said Nicholas Lansman, secretary general of ISPA, which represents net supply firms. Anyone quoting stats should check their veracity, he said.

        "It is vital that any decisions in relation to online safety, like any other policy area, are based on evidence rather than myths and assertions," he added.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 31, 2014 @11:07PM (#47798065)

      The pope essentially said the same thing recently when he said that young people spend too much time on the Internet.

      Religious leaders know that the survival of religion is being threatened by knowledge sharing on the internet, so it shouldn't be any surprise that they would speak out against it.

  • by Khyber ( 864651 ) <techkitsune@gmail.com> on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:13PM (#47797843) Homepage Journal

    You already know they don't like this because it takes away their control over a population.

    Of course they count it against their religion of control and abuse.

  • The key bit (Score:5, Informative)

    by cold fjord ( 826450 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:15PM (#47797851)

    The key bit FTA is here:

    “All third generation [3G] and high-speed internet services, prior to realization of the required conditions for the National Information Network [Iran’s government-controlled and censored Internet which is under development], is against Sharia [and] against moral and human standards.”

    In short the position is that if you have freedom you will abuse it. That's overall pretty similar to the thinking of al Qaida and ISIS. Strike up the banjos and play "Dueling Theocracy!" Oops, sorry, no music allowed. Or kite flying.

    • Those who are wrong hate communication because it allows the good-doers to take over.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        When you consider that the US sided with Saddam Hussein to contain Iran, you begin to realize that such things are possible.

      • Re:The key bit (Score:4, Insightful)

        by ultranova ( 717540 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @04:59AM (#47799035)

        It's pretty fucked up when the US may actually side and assist Iran in stomping out ISIS. It truly is an act of choosing the lesser evil???

        I guess there's always a Greater Satan.

  • by ikedasquid ( 1177957 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:16PM (#47797855)
    Imagine if 3G (and "4G") was found to somehow be illegal in the US - I think there'd be a revolt. A good enough chunk of the nation expects to get FB updates and cat vids on demand anywhere they go. Maybe Iran is the same? It seems backwards, but I think this is the kind of thing that gets the average person to actually care about something. No cat vids = Arab spring in Iran? Maybe?
    • by rossdee ( 243626 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @12:01AM (#47798291)

      "Arab spring in Iran? Maybe?"

      Very unlikely since the Iranians are not Arabs - they're Persians

  • by mikeabbott420 ( 744514 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:17PM (#47797863) Journal
    Young and old we all hate fast internet connections the way seals hate fish.
  • Iran's government is fighting over whether or not to implement rusting-edge technology, with calls for impeachment if they go ahead. It's like they WANT to remain in the 8th Century. Why is it exactly that we're afraid of them?
    • by bloodhawk ( 813939 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:42PM (#47797967)

      They aren't the only country wanting to remain in the 8th century, their are still supposedly modern countries that ban teaching or evolution and insist on teaching their kids at school creationism.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by Nemyst ( 1383049 )
        I know you mean the US, but the difference is that the US has left the 8th century. A small minority seems adamant in getting them back to the dark ages, but there's a wide chasm between that and the poor souls of the Middle East. To conflate the two and pretend otherwise hinders both issues.
        • by antifoidulus ( 807088 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @02:38AM (#47798659) Homepage Journal
          Which is part of what drives the radicalism of the Islamic clerics. They have a perverse incentive for keeping things as fundamentalist as possible. They look to what happened to the clergy in Europe, who in roughly a 100 year span went from being basically on top of the social hierarchy to near the bottom, and are scared it might happen to them. In their eyes the situation in Europe was brought around both by the clergy actively supporting reform, but perhaps even more importantly the clergy not fighting back against reform hard enough(read cutting the heads off of reformers). In a society where your social status not only dictates the amount of property you have, but also your access to women, it's not surprising that the Islamic clergy are scared shitless of modernization and are doing everything in their power to stop it.
    • It's like they WANT to remain in the 8th Century. Why is it exactly that we're afraid of them?

      Because while they're eager to keep an 8th century moral code (and dress code for women), they seem decidedly more modern in their choice of military forces [wikipedia.org] and interest (but not yet attainment of) nuclear weapons [wikipedia.org].

      Because, you know, when you're the Grand Ayatollah, some "Bikinis" are OK [wikipedia.org] but definitely not others [victoriassecret.com].

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by Karmashock ( 2415832 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:29PM (#47797913)

    First... moral standards are "his" moral standards.

    Second, internet in general connects his people to the world... exposing them to other view points that might distort their indoctrination to his world view.

    So what he is saying is "the people of my country might not believe in my values if exposed to alternative view points."

    Which is rational. They probably won't. His world view is pretty weak on logic, argument, or supporting evidence. Its just do what I say or the sharp knives come out.

  • by Namarrgon ( 105036 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:30PM (#47797919) Homepage

    I accidentally RTFA'd and realised the fatwa is actually against high-speed internet that isn't government controlled and censored:

    All third generation [3G] and high-speed internet services, prior to realization of the required conditions for the National Information Network [Iran’s government-controlled and censored Internet which is under development], is against Sharia [and] against moral and human standards.

    Thus I conclude that internet porn is just fine, so long as it's consumed slowly, scanline by scanline. He clearly wants you to enjoy the anticipation.

  • Wait a minute (Score:5, Interesting)

    by viperidaenz ( 2515578 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:31PM (#47797923)

    Where in the Koran does it mention bandwidth? or the speed in which information is made available, since it has nothing to do with what information is available, just the connection speed?

    • Re:Wait a minute (Score:4, Interesting)

      by SuricouRaven ( 1897204 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @01:18AM (#47798463)

      The article doesn't give reasoning, but as he has no objection to high-speed internet once the filtering is in place I'm guessing his objection isn't to the technology but the content. The internet is full of things that would be regarded as corrupting by many in Iran. Not just the obvious pornography and blasphemy - this is a country where forign films often have to be edited to raise the necklines of women's clothing or chop of the arms off an unmarried couple so they aren't holding hands.

  • by RalphBNumbers ( 655475 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:37PM (#47797939)

    64kb/s ought to be enough for anybody.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      For $59 a month, I'm sure Comcast can market a Halal connection for 64kb/s. Act now, and receive a free burka! Whooo.

    • by dryeo ( 100693 )

      Be nice to more then double my download speed and quadruple my upload speeds.

  • by jamesjw ( 213986 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:38PM (#47797947) Homepage

    Quick!, Get the Australian Government on the phone, slow national broadband is their policy!
    Mr Malcolm Turnbull, We have a sale for your broadband plan.. Iran is interested in your vision!! :)

  • Great, (Score:5, Funny)

    by mjwx ( 966435 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:40PM (#47797953)
    So Comcast is just trying to protect our moral integrity?
  • So - straight to LTE then? I don't blame him for saying 3G is not a good idea. much better tech is out there already. why waste time on 3G?
  • Temptation (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jklovanc ( 1603149 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @10:59PM (#47798033)

    It is interesting that one of the basis of most religions is the freedom to choose. Most religions allow people to choose to do good or choose not to. Why does the Muslim religion seem to want to control everything? Conversion by force, death sentence for converting to another religion, hiding women's bodies so not to tempt men and now censorship. What would a religion have to force it's followers to conform? What proves a person's faith is the ability to resist temptation. Look at the trials of Job. If the people need to be "protected" from temptation then their faith is weak.

  • The Ayatollah speaks the truth. Just look at America. Everywhere there is broadband, heathens have flourished, while is REAL America, where dial-up reigns, people are living nobly under god's laws and the Bible. Preach it Brother Ayatollah! AMEN!

  • Someone's after your job.

  • by Animats ( 122034 ) on Sunday August 31, 2014 @11:36PM (#47798195) Homepage

    Many ultra-orthodox rabbis who demand their followers not use uncensored smartphones or uncensored internet access. In 2012, a big anti-Internet rally for ultra-orthodox Jews was held in New York. [nytimes.com] "The siren song of the Internet entices us! It brings out the worst of us!" The event was streamed live and is summarized on YouTube. [youtube.com]

    There are ultra-orthodox ISPs with filtering. The filtering is very stringent, [yeshivanet.com] based on a rabbi-approved whitelist. "That's all you get, and nothing else."

    There are kosher cell phones [venishmartem.com]. "Kosher Phone has no camera, no Bluetooth capabilities, no memory card slot and cannot be connected to a computer."

    That's in the US. In Israel, kosher cell phones are so locked down that only approved numbers can be called. Even rape crisis centers are blocked. [ynetnews.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I have a Jewish friend in who co-runs a computer repair service in NYC. They've told me that when a rabbi calls for assistance, they inevitably have among the largest stashes of porn you can imagine. And the wives all have accounts on dating services.

  • At least there is a political disagreement and (a small number of government) people are talking about the issue.

    It's scarier when you remember that Iran is a liberal democracy compared to some countries (Saudi Arabia).

  • Ay ah tol' ya and ay ah tol' ya....

  • by _0x783czar ( 2516522 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @12:00AM (#47798289) Journal
    I'm becoming increasingly suspicious that the Grand Ayatollah runs my ISP...
  • Four-gee (Score:4, Funny)

    by WaffleMonster ( 969671 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @12:48AM (#47798391)

    Whenever someone says "4G" half the time all I hear is "orgy". Is it just me or are other people having this same problem? This all started with the T-Mobile 4G chick and proceeded downhill from there.

    Had to pause and rewind the commercials... all I kept hearing was "my touch orgy" .. when I knew consciously she must be saying "my touch 4G" ... I'm clearly going to hell.. and clearly high speed cellular networks are sinful.

  • by hyades1 ( 1149581 ) <hyades1@hotmail.com> on Monday September 01, 2014 @02:27AM (#47798633)

    The Imams decided Gutenberg's printing press was off limits, because (you have to know how the press worked...stamping, essentially) printing the prophet's words on one would be equivalent of punching him in the face.

    And ever since, Muslims have been spiraling downward into a pit of ignorance and fanaticism. There was a time when they were the flower of human civilization. That time has passed. Ours will, too, if we continue to allow superstitious morons to dictate our social and educational policiies.

  • by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @05:03AM (#47799053)
    The internet facilitates reason, criticism, satire, and alternate points of view. And yeah porn, fun, shopping and irreverence. All things which an authoritarian theocracy has reason to fear.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 01, 2014 @05:42AM (#47799145)

    Its not that religion is evil, or that it does not have significant purpose. Its just that people use it as a means to carry out their own agenda hiding behind the myths and teachings that were misunderstood or misinterpreted. Religion is just a way to get people to follow you and to make you fear going against them because its going against a God. Iran is just another Country bent on keeping the information of the real world away from its people. Only instead of a dictator you have a religious figure who tries to control people through religion. Don't think for a second the Muslims are any more peaceful then the Christians, or Jews or any other religion. Wars throughout history have had significant meaning over differing religions. Unfortunately, religion has backfired on keeping peace in the world. It has only worsen and created conflicts and in many cases has shed more blood then it has saved. It was never meant to happen that way, but it has.

  • by seniorcoder ( 586717 ) on Monday September 01, 2014 @08:49AM (#47799767)
    Much of the foreign interference offered by this country's government results in the reverse of what they were trying to achieve.
    To meddle in something that is none of your business merely tends to give credibility to whatever you disagreed with in the first place.

    “Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.” - George Carlin.
    “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” - Mark Twain.

    So if Iran or wherever wants to pass stupid edicts, just let it go ahead.
    Have some respect for Iranians to recognize a horse's ass for what it is.
    If a stupid government passes a sufficient number of dumb edicts that they eventually make themselves irrelevant.

    Or maybe we should interfere and start another war which would surely help support a dumb regime (on both sides).

Solutions are obvious if one only has the optical power to observe them over the horizon. -- K.A. Arsdall

Working...