Rapid Internet Growth In Iran

securitas writes "The BBC's Abbas Azimi reports on the rapid growth of the Internet and Internet cafes in Iran, apparently with the tacit approval of the government. Seven million Iranians have Internet access, or 10% of the population - double the rate two years ago. Access costs 60 cents/hour. The article describes how the Internet is used for everything from VoIP phone calls to chat and Web logs. Even Iran's vice-president has a daily blog on a popular site with 'musings about politics and life.' All of this despite the ban on many sites, which is easily circumvented by Iran's webmasters and geeks. An interesting point is that most of the PCs used in Iran are assembled from smuggled parts and run pirated versions of all the latest software (due to foreign embargo?). It sounds like a great opportunity for open source software."

Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

The old saying, "if it aint' broke don't fix it," seems to apply here. With no laws against pirating retail software, what would the advantage be to OSS? I know it wouldn't cost them any more, or less, so why change?

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

Because. Like all good Christians, we must convert them.

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

I think you're missing the point of OSS/Free Software, it's not how much money it costs (yeah, yeah free as in beer) it's how they could change it to suit their needs, lifestyle, culture (free as in freedom). In fact this is the perfect place for OSS/Free Software, it gives them the power to change something!

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

Perhaps we are placing just a little TOO much faith in the POWER of OSS. I realize that it can heal the sick, feed the hungry, and make politicians honest, but maybe just this once, it's completely irrelevant.

We should be focusing more on the content then the delivery method. IN countries like Iran, overcoming and undermining the harsh edicts of the mullah is probably slightly more important than what version of SCO-Derivative Unlicensed(TM) *Nix verion they are running. I realize that talking about free software is important and innocuous, but whenever I see things like this pop up arbitrarily, I want to make sure you're not missing the point.

If the president were found banging a dead 14-year-old hooker in the Vatican, I get the feeling some people here would either blame it on SCO, Microsoft, Bill Gates, the RIAA, or wonder what version of Apache the Vatican is running. (It's 1.3.27, to save you some trouble).

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

The mere fact that /. is a geek site, with, as a consequence, a huge majority of people that don't understand a thing about politics, and even less to arab politics

But surely you must know that Iran is not an Arab country?

Try obtaining the basic facts before you start berating others at great length! X-D

Compounding your error

First, you've confused shia and sunni.

Second, Persians speak Parsi/Farsi/Persian, however you want to call it -- not Arabic. Yes, it's been altered by Arab colonizers, but it's still Persian.

Finally, ask some Persians about where the high culture like art, architecture and poetry of the Arab Empire come from.

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

The Arabs cheer you!

But the PERSIANS of Iran probably think you're a pompous git.

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

Wow, for a rant like this it is impressive that you can't get the first fact straight:

and even less to arab politics,

Iran is not arabic!! This is the kind of ignorance that pisses Iranians off (and probably arabs too).

The Arab world is really hating the Western world.

Rubbish! Have you travelled in the Arab world? I have. There are few places were you meet more heartfelt friendliness, openness and generosity than in the Arab world. If there is hate, it is only among a small number of people, and when you meet people face-to-face, and you return their respect, it's gone. It is about mutual respect.

The fact that Western countries are, on a daily, institutionna, historical, cultural basis, denying the Arab heir is just a part of what make them hate us *so much*.

This has some merit, but it is not a real source of hatred. But if you are prepared to sit down and hear what an Arab has to say about their heritage and what the Arab world has given to the west, you'd be respected. You'll also notice that many Arabs and Iranians too are prepared and very interested in taking the best of what the West has to offer. They have no hatred against the west, to the contrary, they would like to incorporate in their culture what they feel is good, and democracy is certainly one of the things they'll be working with.

But Arabs and Iranians have a lot to be proud of, and what they don't want is westerners coming in and tell them what to do. They appreciate help when they ask for it, but they mostly want to do things their own way, based on what they think are the best from their own culture and western culture.

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

and that they hate each other, the more they diverge

Ever been to America? We... umm.. *don't* hate *anyone*....
Ok, well maybe the french... (just kidding)
We actually get the idea of cultural tollerance shoved down our throughts all through school.

About the arab history and culture not being taught... well, I would agree half way. We focus more on the actual benifits of things like the Renaissance, not where they came from. Also, in areas that are more muslim, be sure that they do teach more muslim history.

Not sure where I'm going with all this. Guess I'll just end with an apology for voting for Bush. I didn't know... ;)

WHY NOT?

Dear People. You should know the following: 1. Iran is not an ARAB country. 2. The fact that who is the leader (mullah or not mullah), doesn't change anything. The computers will always live. 3. Internet will always find its ways to any country. 4. We don't hate the western people, rather they hate us. Example: IT is concidered prohibited by the American government the entry of powerfull encryption technology to Iran, and some other countries, which includes MD5. Therefore, we aren't allowed to d/l Linux (any reasonable distro) from US mirrors. 5. You know, there also exist some geeks, who don't care about politics at all. (Like me). 6. I am very intrested in OSS coming to Iran. It already has, to some extent. Check out: counter.li.org [li.org] iranlinux.org [iranlinux.org] and, kdefarsi.org [kdefarsi.org] . 7. Anyways, Linux and OSS will eventually take control of everywhere, including IRAN. 8. We are not TERRORISTS. We live like other people in the world. What is the point in being a terrorist anyways? How do you dare call us (including me) TERRORISTS? Have I killed you? Or what? 9. Religion has nothing to do with Open Source. Open Source is actually a special type of religion, if you put it that way. 10. May the source be with you. (NOET: Soorry for louzy spelling and grammar) --Regards, Darioush

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

As an Iranian, I must tell you we don't hate westerns, We may become angry when we hear you refer all inventions and science to your self, forgetting for example the medical-science-reburn was based on Avicenna (Abu ali sina, a pure inranain scientist), even the cloth you wear on graduating-celeberation in university and the way you change the position of the rob in the hat you wear in getting diploma is mimick of the way he was used to do when he was able to solve a problem, Or X(variable in algebra), and Algorithm was first used by al-kharazmi one of or mathematicians(Algorithm word is based on his name ), ZAKARIYA RAZI,"As a chemist, he was the first to produce sulfuric acid together with some other acids, and he also prepared alcohol by fermenting sweet products" Or we are using the most accurate calendar in the world based on reburn of the earth(Persian Calendar) So, when we see in your history books that science begun from greek and a gap and then you invented everything again we may become angry, but hatret? noway. Those advanced I mentioned was not based on nothing, we have a very powerfull culture, Persian Culture, that becasue of our current weak-country state it is weakened in many ways, but it is still alive, and it is based on " Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds", and we are so much foreign lovers as a characteristics of our nation. You can see that UN title is a peom from sadi (a persian poet) that says: "All people are in the same body, when some part suffers others suffer too, if you don't suffer, you are not a human", we don't hate anyone. And about OSS, it is so weak in Iran yet, the government is not so concerned and people are so used to pirated softwares that is a little hard for OSS-devoted developers to convince them for using OSS softwares, but like everywhere there are some devoted developers here too, We will work and try hard for spreading and helping FLOSS idea here in Iran, because we believe that if anyone in anywhere hurts, we will fill bad too, and the propriety softwares have many aches too be ignored ;), regards,

You know, a thought [OT]

This has nothing to do with anything, but it just occured to me that internet cafes are an absolutely natural target for Knoppix. Everything you need goes on the CD, the instant someone signs off everything they've done to the filesystem's cleared, you don't even need a hard drive...

Someone could probably do pretty well for themselves if they made a customized version of Knoppix with software tailored to what an internet cafe needs, the interface made windows-user-friendly and with some big "WEB" "EMAIL" buttons on the desktop, Evolution set up with a quick "connect to your specific email" wizard, and some sort of hooks to some sort of central use tracking/billing system. They could print up a bunch of cds of this and sell it as a no-setup-required "internet cafe in a box" system...

I dunno, it's an idea.

Re:Doesn't Really sound like a great place for OSS

With no laws against pirating retail software, what would the advantage be to OSS?

Establishing a respect for copyright. Avoiding (further) censure by western nations. Having a wider variety of software available to use on a wider variety of hardware, including older machines that might not be great desktops, but do make great routers. Having complete documentation available for your software. The opportunity to establish a CS education program due to the greater number of programming languages and tools in Open Source that are internet available. Having a full compliment of encryption and security software available so one can ensure privacy of communication and access to "banned" materials via tunneling, and other measures that are included in most Open Source distributions. Basic security and reliability concerns.

I know it wouldn't cost them any more, or less, so why change?

I can afford propietary software and operating systems, even though I live in the US. There are far more advantages to using Open Source than simply the cost factor.

Why would...

Why would there be an embargo on modern operating systems? I wouldn't guess that missiles use windows xp. And if they did, it's not like they wouldn't be blowing up in mid air. Seriously, someone I knew used to say that in Ukraine he couldn't find a legal copy of any MS software... only burned copies.

Re:Why would...

Thats becos most OSes (read Windows) contain code for encryption support which could have (many) military applications.

Re:give me a break

They're supposed to be unbreakable, yet those in office are convinced that terrorists are using encryption. So the government has broken it, or are lying.

Well, they could know these groups are using encryption without actually having broken any particular message. For instance, they might have seized a computer and found a PGP installation on it.

My guess, though, is that the government angle is all spin. This makes it into the headlines for two reasons.

First, the government and government contractors are genuinely worried about encryption, because its use really does reduce their ability to eavesdrop. The issue of U.S. encryption policy was a major political issue throughout the 1990s, which reached ridiculous extremes with T-shirts with the RSA algorithm on them which were legally classified as munitions. Legislation is so unenforceable now that it would be hard to make it stronger, but the "threat" of terrorist use provides enough political weight to check any forward movement.

Secondly, the notion that terrorists are fully versed in all our Western skills, and thus may be able to exploit them to advantage against us, scares people and therefore resonates with them. Scaremonger broadcasters on local news stations live and breathe on this kind of stuff.

Maybe terrorists are using steg and crypto; maybe they're not. In either case, it's politically desirable for the government to claim they are, and for the media to report it.

Perfect excuse to let people call open source terr

Call open source the software of choice among terrorists. If it takes hold and any terrorists there get caught with it on their machines look for microsoft and the government to start pointing fingers.

Re:Perfect excuse to let people call open source t

> Call open source the software of choice among
> terrorists. If it takes hold and any terrorists
> there get caught with it on their machines look
> for microsoft and the government to start pointing
> fingers.

You're not the first to say this, but it's one of the most idiotic arguments I've ever heard. I can't believe either Bush or Microsoft would push this line.

Have any terrorists been caught with Windows on their PCs? Are the latest breed of "computer terrorists" (aka virus writers) running Windows on their PCs? If the answers are "Yes" and "Yes", don't you think you could construct a counter argument that Windows is actually the terrorists' choice?

One of the first things the media would do with such an issue is to consult "respected FOSS spokesman (insert any of several names here)". Do you think Microsoft would risk that person pointing the finger of blame back at MS based on the above argument?

Equating FOSS with terrorism is both absurd and unrealistic.

Wooo...

PCs used in Iran are assembled from smuggled parts and run pirated versions of all the latest software

Glad to see I'm not the only one.

Taking a note from China?

It's interesting to see yet another government try to circumvent web sites that don't agree with their particular world view. And even better when the web-sites re-appear under different names. Sounds exactly like the situation in China. I wonder if the Iranian geeks are learning from what happened to the Falun Gong et al. They are obviously realizing that the filters are almost worthless to people who really want to get at the material.
However, I still think the filters are effective because they have a very powerful psychological effect. If the government says you shouldn't be viewing said material, and if caught(even though it's almost impossible to catch you, but how many people realize the true power of the government) there will be big trouble. Thus I think most banned sites just wind up preaching to the choir, very sad indeed.

For how long?

For how long? The 'rulers' overthere just banned several THOUSAND canidates from the elections because they where too 'progressive'.

Once the hardliners regain control there is a good chance this trend will reverse itself.

not a very sizable group

The hardliners are tremendously unpopular. If free elections were held, estimates are that the various reformist parties would've won a massive landslide of somewhere around 70-85% of the seats in parliament.

Windows is now open source

So yea, its a great opportunity for them!

Love in Iran!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,6532 82,00.html (More Detailed News Article)

" Meeting girls is easy this way," said Amir, as he continued typing, "You can be relaxed no worries."

Apparrently Iranians need the love too! Just like Internet access first got booming over here, it seems porn and interent romance will probably be a big thing over there too.

Re:Love in Iran!!

" Meeting girls is easy this way," said Amir

"Hi Amir my name is hot4u [infiltrated.net], and I am so hot. Please get back to me.

Compare to the increasingly repressive Europe laws

Just compare this undeniable explosion of freedom to communicate in the "Axis of Evil" to the ever-increasingly repressing law arsenal in Europe: for instance, no sooner than last week, in France, the "LEN" (Law on Digital Economy) makes the provider responsible for the legality of the contents of whatever its customer are communicating over the internet, including web, mail, and so on, and must give information, mails and web logs to the police without the need of a subpoena.
Time to move to free countries...

Computer Language in Iran

I know a few programmers with ties to Iran. Some of their computer scientists do things with Assembly that few of their peers in the West can match. Given that most of their population is 25 or younger, and that they are having to become so efficient with so few resources, I think that when Iran opens up to the outside world we could see the next India opening up inside of five years.

Beneficial for Iran

I think that Iran would benefit from imitating India. Given the proximity to Dubai (*major* international trade center), educated population, loyal diasporia, etc. they could easily become a regional economic powerhouse. Several of my friends here in the US are Iranian, and most of them identify heavily with Persia/Iran even if they were born here. That population is among the hardest working and most educated per capita I've ever seen, if they are any indication of what their countrymen are capable of then Iran immediately after the revolution would be the Korea of 1970, the India of 1980, or the Japan of 1955.

pirated software

An interesting point is that most of the PCs used in Iran are assembled from smuggled parts and run pirated versions of all the latest software (due to foreign embargo?).

the pirated software is not Iran-specific, this occurs in many parts of the world, most notably India, China, and other Asian countries, in some parts of china you can go to your local computer store and pick up a copied version various software

I love the Internet.

In a big crackdown at the end of last year, hundreds of internet cafes were shut down and new rules introduced for new proprietors, requiring them to restrict customer's access to a long list of "immoral and anti-Islamic sites".

It's interesting how every country is trying to control the Internet and the flow of Information. Just isn't working, is it. (grin)

-
It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that the Internet has evolved into a force strong enough to reflect the greatest hopes and fears of those who use it. After all, it was designed to withstand nuclear war, not just the puny huffs and puffs of politicians and religious fanatics. - Denise Caruso, (digital commerce columnist, New York Times)

Linux in Iran and SCO

If every one in Iran started using linux, SCO could stage a come back by suing all Iranians in the Islamic court in Iran

Rapid growth?

If you google for "internet iran" you'll get pretty much the opposite impresion [google.com].

Smuggled is a strong word

When you hear the word smuggled, you think that the item smuggled is illegal itself. This is not the case with computer hardware in Iran. If hardware is smuggled into Iran, it is because it is difficult to find, but not because its illegal. A year ago, I sent my Iranian fiance's mom and dad back to Iran with a suitcase that contained a complete desktop computer with Win98 minus the monitor. Upon arrival in Iran, their luggage (just like all luggage, mail and packages entering Iran) was opened and searched, and they were allowed to proceed.

Re:Smuggled is a strong word

The point is not that it is illegal to receive the software in Iran, but that it may be illegal to take part in trade with Iran if you are a company or citizen of the US or one of its allies.

On the other hand, if the current administration would recognise the effect these policies have been having (increased support for the Anti-US religeous right in Iranian politics), then perhaps they'll reconsider so as to allow the liberal reformers there to regain the ground they have lost in recent years.

I do understand that our administration would probably like to have a revolution occur there due to the hardships, but revolutions in that part of the world seldom result in anything other than religeous dictatorships.

Glad I'm not living there...

Even Iran's vice-president has a daily blog on a popular site with 'musings about politics and life.'

Here's a little bit I copied from his site:

22-02-2004: meetings is teh sux0rs

HEY, sup all??? jus got back from a informasional meating on how were totally kicking the liberals's @$$ in teh polls this year [sbs.com.au]!!!!1 those losers are such morons! to bad the voter turnout was bad! Dude u guys need 2 go out and vote so i can be your leader next year wouldnt that be gr8???
All so, there was this totally hot reporter there who kept talking 2 me asking questions and $h!t. She was totaly n 2 me and i was gonna get her # but those loser body guards said i had to go to another meeting. gawd, what pr!cks!!!
anyway, i gotta go sighn sum papers, ttyl.

(Glad he's not one of the leaders of my country)

linuxiran.org

They even have a site for linux in Iran. linuxiran.org [linuxiran.org] says that " We, at linuxiran.org! are happy that with your help Iran's first site dedicated to GNU/Linux and FLOSS, is the most active GNU/Linux site in Iran today. To find out more about linuxiran.org! and our group or GNU/Linux and FLOSS in general, please read the FAQ.

Re:linuxiran.org

I prefer this bit from the site:

We, at linuxiran.org! are happy that with your help Iran's first site dedicated to GNU/Linux and FLOSS, praise be to Allah for seeing fit to allow the creation of the holy Linux kernel. We wish you to grant strength to Muhammed Abduli-Stahlman in his continuing sacred Jihad against immoral proprietary software.

Don't blame the embargo...

Pirated Software isn't a problem only in Iran. So don't blame it on embargo. The problem is economic. To buy MS Windows and Office is some time more expensive than buy a computer in the country where i live (and computers are already expensive without it.). People buy software for bussiness, but don't remember a friend of mine buying MS off-the-shelf software for personal use.

It's easier to sell a computer with a pirated Windows because it's cheaper and some people don't know linux yet, and prefer to buy a computer like their neighbor one.

After The Recent Elections...

It will be interesting to see if this continues. The reformist government is getting clobbered, and the hard-line clerics are prepping to take over in the next presidential election. Sad to see, but Iran may be getting ready to take a step backward. What will be interesting is to see what affect the internet does in fact have on this threat to their recent "freedoms".

Pirated Software + Embargo != OSS will grow

It sounds like a great opportunity for open source software.

Speaking from personal experience from the good ol' Russia, I would disagree that open source software will proliferate. Strike it as flamebate, but given the choice of ANY software available for FREE (beer), the software that has the highest number of the most "common" applications will become ubiquitous. This means - everyone will have windows, photoshop, office plus whatever else that has high value, without any regards to price/advertising. Average Joe might not want to invest his time into less polished Linux for desktop, thus M$ is what everyone will have. Apparently, to the average consumer, the value of OSS is not stability or openness, but the word FREE.

<begin flame here>

A fun idea

Let's call the BSA and the RIAA on them. Let's see how well these two orginizations do with their sudo draconian tactics in a draconian state. Should be pretty fun to watch I figure.

online dating

Another popular site is an online dating agency set up by a young ayatollah.

Unforunately all the ads read like this:

swf. black head scarf. inexperienced at dating. enjoys long walks in the desert. i do not sing. please no public stoning.

Heh. Do they speak English in Iran, now?

Yeah, given OSS's robust and pervasive support for right-to-left, Arabic script languages, it'll be a cinch to get a foothold in Iran.

misleading title

Iran has a per capita GDP of USD 1800 (not adjusted for "PPP", which in itself is not exactly an uncontentious measure), yet the BBC's correspondent claims that access costs of 60 cents per hour are "well within the reach of the average person".

While access in (the comparatively affluent) Tehran province may indeed be growing rapidly, this is not where the bulk of Iranians live and therefore puts paid to any notions of rapid democratization of knowledge via the Internet - it seems more like a pastime for the urban elite ('twas ever thus).

Also note that all his "postcards from Iran" are in fact about Tehran. I think the BBC is in need of a major quality check. They're getting as bad as CNN.

Iran an USA

Iran is an ancient culture. And a very cultured one. American government would like to believe us that it is in the same league as North Korea. I find it utterly strange that there is an international ban on them for no reason at all.

opportunity for open source?

Mod me as a troll or whatever! BUT DAMN! What is it with " It sounds like a great opportunity for open source software" I am fucking sick of every damn thing being a great opportunity for open source, I love open source idea, but damn, it sends chills down my spine when yall mention it non stop, it is no different from adversiment on TV, or fundamentalist islams and christians trying for world domination. What next?, let's start inserting linux CD rooms in cereal boxes, no, better yet, let's mass distribute it like AOL!

How long...

How long will it take for the USA and Microsoft to announce that OSS supports terrorism, fundamentalist islam, and dictatorships?

Think about it.

blogging in Iran

I read an interesting article in cnn.com the other day about bloggers in Iran [cnn.com] and their fear of an eventual clampdown. These blogs not only allow Iranians to voice their opinions about difficult issues, but they give an interesting view of Iranian society and people to the world. Links to some blogs can be found via the article.

YIKES

For a second, I thought the story blurb read:

"The BBC's Abdul Alhazred reports..."



Come'on, you know it's funny. For the uninitiated among us: Abdul Alhazred [wikipedia.org]

Can we build them a free Internet?

Clearly, the geeks will have an edge, but could we give them a really great advantage? Could we, for example, build them a real independent Internet that the hardlines wouldn't control? The problem is that hardliners control the major nodes in the network, that's how they can enforce censorship. If they couldn't control the nodes, what then?

Allthough the article talks about cafes, I know for sure that there are also a whole lot of home PCs in Iran, most progressive middle-class people have them.

I was thinking, in urban areas, for example Tehran, if it existed a few Wi-Fi hotspots, and others started buying base stations, and kept them open, you would soon have a complete urban network where authorities would not be in control of any of the nodes. They could perhaps crack down on base stations, but at the time it hits them that there exists a complete, independent network, the airwaves would be so full of them, tracking them down could be well beyond their ability.

But, that's just an urban network, to make it really useful, you would need to connect it to the Internet. So, you would need to ensure that some nodes have a connection to the Internet that the authorities can't control. You probably want to have several different connections to the Internet, and I guess several different types, so even if one kind of connection is identified and shut down, traffic can still route through other connections.

This is going to be expensive, but I figured, at least in Europe, there are many companies doing business in Iran, and they probably want to continue after the revolution comes. It'll be a small investment for them to secretly distribute a few satellite phones to willing Iranians to establish an uncontrolled connection to the Internet.

So, what do the /. think, is this viable?

Why is a free Internet important? I think that it is extremely important to keep the communications flowing, so that western policy-makers can decide how to help the Iranian people based upon information flowing from a wide spectrum of Iranians. Not only that, if we on the outside can maintain an open debate, the revolution is more likely to be a peaceful one.

Female Iranian chatters, ski resorts, what else?

The other day I was approached by an unknown user in Yahoo! Messenger.

*She* claimed to be from Iran, having found me through a Yahoo! Profile search. Her English was decent, she claimed to have hobbies (like photography, astronomy) that would definitely require a good middle class or upper class income.

Guess what, I did not really believe her. So I kept the conversation quite short. Maybe next time I will consider that she was not a fake (7 million Iranians being online and such...)

I previosuly thought this was Mullah country. Don't wear your Burka and die. No Internet, no TV, no sex. Oh wait.

Well just recently I learnt that there is a ski resort just north of the capital. Upper class privilege (source: abcnews.com) Surprise, surprise. Thanks slashdot, thanks abcnews for changing my views a bit.

Too bad the recent election has put the conservative, religious elite back into total control. Could partially be a consequence of American occupation to both sides of Iran (speaking of Afghanistan + Irak here).

Support?!?!

Wait, doesn't this mean they can't get "support" from the manufacturer ?!?!? How do they make it work?

Software piracy in the third world

...An interesting point is that most of the PCs used in Iran are assembled from smuggled parts and run pirated versions of all the latest software (due to foreign embargo?).

Even with no embargo, software piracy is rampant in the third world. I live in Mexico and it's rare to see anyone with a legal version of software. Though, that is changing.

The equivalent of the IRS down here is Hacienda and my understanding is Microsoft has given them a lot of training and now Hacienda has started checking businesses for pirated software (financial audits are frequent down here). Apparently MS gives Hacienda a chunk of change when they score one for MS.

So things are changing here a bit, but the truth is, a lot of business are simply looking for new ways around it. One business I know of is talking of setting up an Windows Terminal Services machine which will reside off of the property, and everyone will connect to it to get to all the pirated software (and of course, the WTS is unlicensed).

So, really, I doubt an embargo has anything to do with the piracy. Frankly, most third world businesses simply can't afford the price of software.

How it works in Iran

Heya people. I normally read /. and do not reply much useful stuff, but I hope this may help you guys get a bit more understanding at how quirky computer users are in Iran!

Firstly, the overall population seems to be very easily adaptable to computers. I was first introduced to the PC when I went back there as a teenager.

Over there, we would purchase software by the megabyte at the time. This would all be for cracked software of course. Now it's usually by the "app" and different applications have different values accordingly. You just go to your local computer shop and look through their list of available software. Service is very professional there!

At first there was no control of any form, then the strangest thing happened. Companies started making their own dongles for cracked software.

Imagine getting your latest H2O music program and realising that you need the H20 Warez Enabler ;-)

Then it got even stranger when people started getting cracks for the dongle of the cracked version (I am not a good writer I hope this makes sense still!).

I havent been there for a few years now, so I would love to know if the crack/dongle nesting is still going on!

Embargo on OSS as well?

Since things such as high encryption are illegal to import in some countries, how is OSS going to solve anything?

Anything that is powerfull enough to be useable would be pirated, regardless of being commerical or 'free'.

'sides. do they really need it anyway. the world doesnt *need* internet access. its nice but not required..

No

...run pirated versions of all the latest software (due to foreign embargo?).

How much you wanna bet they're running Windows 98? You know they are.

not for long

"The BBC's Abbas Azimi reports on the rapid growth of the Internet and Internet cafes in Iran, apparently with the tacit approval of the government. Seven million Iranians have Internet access, or 10% of the population - double the rate two years ago. Access costs 60 cents/hour. The article describes how the Internet is used for everything from VoIP phone calls to chat and Web logs. Even Iran's vice-president has a daily blog on a popular site with 'musings about politics and life."

I predict a big crack down on internet use and satellite tv now that the Iran hard-liners have come out in the open to oppose democracy in Iran. The sham of an election that just occurred, where over 2000 reform candidate were forbidden from running has shown there is no real democracy in Iran. The supreme leader and the guardian council hold the real power, and are planning on pushing Islam down everyone's throats. See here [cnn.com] for details.

Re:sneaky sneaky

How about we use this as another tool of diplomacy? People to people, building things like networks and cross communications.

Re:Iran is still fucked up...

offtopic my ass! What do you think the fact that hardliners have taken over will do to those sprouting "internet cafes"?

Actually it should be lower

Microsoft aren't likely to support whatever language they speak in iran, since they are unlikely to sell their software because it'll just be pirated.

IIRC kde runs just fine in farsi and localizing other OS applications should be very straightforward.

I find it very interesting that even in countries where piracy is unchecked, people still choose to run OS.

MS even supports kazakh( ever even heard of it ?)

Dont be too sure.
Even now MS even offers input language support for Kazakh, Estonian, Kyrgyz [microsoft.com] so farsi shoudnt be too difficult. Though of course I cant believe anyone cares abt that enough to use MS.

Re:MS even supports kazakh( ever even heard of it

I've never been to kazakhstan or kyrgyzstan but i have been to estonia a couple of times and it's got a very well developed economy, 100% nationwide cellphone coverage and a fairly well developed internet infrastructure (though it was slow in 99).

It's pretty inconcievable to think of microsoft not covering estonian - even though there are only ~4 million speakers (maybe less, i cant really remember). It's also very close to finnish and uses a western character set, so relatively easy to work with.

US companies aren't permitted to do business with iran and so it'd be a fairly gray area if they chose to develop an iran-localized windows.

That said, iran does seem to be the most internet developed "axis-of-evil", they even have an ipv6 prescence.

Re:open source software

First of all, parent is not off-topic.

Second of all, if the market for open source were limited to those who already knew about it, then open source could not grow.

Third, it seems clear to me that if officially registered software is, as a rule, not used, then open source would indeed have a great opportunity here.

Re:open source software

Third, it seems clear to me that if officially registered software is, as a rule, not used, then open source would indeed have a great opportunity here.

Really? There isn't a cost benefit to using OS software when the alternative is bootleg commercial software. Both sell for the same price -- a dollar or two per CD. I think in Iran the government will not be in any hurry to let the BSA audit anyone.

No doubt for servers Linux and BSD have a major role, as everywhere.

Re:Most searched Google term in Iran:

Obviously, an idiot posted this. The Iranians wanna be just like you. A lot of the population is young and was born after 1979. They don't identify with the revolution. To quote Cindi Lauer, 'They just wanna have fun, fun..". As soon as the theocracy dies out (next 10 years or less), the country will return to its degenerate self as it was with the Shah (an American stooge)...sad but true.

Re:open source software

What are you talking about?!? So off topic!
I am an american living in Tehran and OSS is something that no one cares about here. Why should they. The software market is an embargo because of the fact that Iran has NO international copyright laws.. NONE! So, they can sell what ever they want at software stores (there are many) at $2 USD per disk and that's the rate.
On the shelves you will find Windows XP ($2 USD) and
Redhat ($2 USD) right next to each other. No one buy s the Redhat, why should they? All the consumer here knows is that Windows is easier to use.
ISP's are not that advanced here yet. They sell cards that offer 2, 5, 10, 20 hour blocks of time (for home users). AND the ISP's always recommend windows ONLY! Why that is, I'm not sure.
The Mullah's LOVE an uneducated population and that's what they have. The growth of the internet using population is low and will remain low due to government policy. (Am I all over the board yet?)

Oh, I bought a brand new Dell Insipron here and it only cost me $800 USD. Smuggled, maybe. But computers here are very inexpensive and everyone I know has a recognisable named system.. So in that I also disagree with the article....