ODIT/UNews: Iranians Bypass Net Censors VIA 'Anonymous'

yep, this is the same group you thought just did rick-rolls & ate 'caek'

Photos provided by IWWP/roozbehk of people gathering in emam khomeini square 18/6/2009. These, other photos, videos and torrents are available at this clearinghouse site.

news.cnet.com: A new generation of Iranians has found ways to bypass the country's notoriously censorial Internet restrictions and disseminate details about Iran's internal turmoil in the wake of the recent elections.

In technical circles, at least, Iran is well-known for erecting one of the world's most restrictive Internet blockades, second only to China in its scope. Certain blogs are cordoned off, politically unacceptable keywords are blocked, and Web sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, the BBC, and YouTube remain--at least at the moment--off-limits.

One of the groups taking part is Anonymous, an online activist group best known for its clashes with the Church of Scientology. The organisation is providing a forum to "serve as an avenue of communication between Iranians, their families abroad and other interested parties from across the internet".

Other efforts to avoid state censorship are being led by individuals around the globe. In San Francisco, a man named Austin Heap is leading an effort to keep Iranians safely posting information about the protests.

The forum, iran.whyweprotest.net, which is also backed by the Pirate Bay and links users to proxy servers to avoid detection, allows users to post photos and information on protests, and provides a missing persons database. An IT director by trade, Heap has been co-ordinating an effort through his blog to help users set up and maintain proxy servers to allow access to systems within Iran.

The effort is part of what has become an unprecedented online campaign in support of the protestors. Shortly after the demonstrations began, users took to blogs and Twitter in an effort to relay information from within the country and coordinate efforts against the standing government regime.

The site has also attracted it's share of trolls, 9-11 truthers, and just bothersome thread hijackers whose sole purpose is to disrupt the flow of information. I must say, they are doing a great job keeping all the spamming at bay. Not deleting it, mind you, but won't tolerate thread after thread of the same copypasta.