SLOW SPEED AHEAD

In an efffort to stifle the free flow of information the Iranian government is shutting down too-independent newspapers and confiscating privately owned satellite dishes. The internet, already censored, is being slowed down:

In a blow to the country's estimated 5 million internet users, service providers have been told to restrict online speeds to 128 kilobytes a second and been forbidden from offering fast broadband packages. The move by Iran's telecommunications regulator will make it more difficult to download foreign music, films and television programmes, which the authorities blame for undermining Islamic culture among the younger generation. It will also impede efforts by political opposition groups to organise by uploading information on to the net.

Jeez, you'd think Ahmadnijad and his merry men are civil rights-stealing Republicans.