NOVEMBER 2015 Iranian Internet Infrastructure and Policy Report
A Small Media monthly report bringing you all the latest news on internet policy and online censorship direct from Iran. smallmedia.org.uk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License Iranian Internet 2 Infrastructure and Policy Report
Introduction
This month’s feature takes another look at the meteoric rise of messaging apps in Iran, and particularly at the runaway success of Telegram.
While hardliners continue to rant and rave about its uses as a vehicle for ‘immoral’ content and pornography, more moderate members of the Iranian political and media establishments appear to be looking increasingly to Telegram as a vehicle for getting state-approved content to its massive user base. We explore these tensions in more depth below.
Also this month, we can share the latest updates about the development of the National Internet, hear about the announcement of a homegrown alternative to Google Maps, and learn all about an ongoing financial battle between Iran’s telecom giants. Iranian Internet 3 Infrastructure and Policy Report
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Messaging Apps
Over the past couple of months, Iranian authorities have been increasingly fixated on the challenges posed by the messaging app Telegram.
Whereas in the past government policy has tended to err towards condemning, blocking, and disrupting the services offered by messaging apps, there are signs that the Iranian political and media establishments may be looking to develop a more nuanced response to Telegram’s popularity, potentially even co-opting the platform for their own ends.
Although there are signs of increasing accommodation between some Iranian government figures and Telegram, policy is not settled, and bitter disputes about Telegram’s role are ongoing. Hardline politicians still frequently rail against Telegram as a platform for illicit and immoral materials, decrying it for hosting a number of pornography-related channels. Last month, several images of a man named ‘Vahid’ went viral, showing him posing in compromising positions with 14 women. After a short investigation by Iran’s Cyber Police, ‘Vahid’ was jailed.
The furore over Telegram is only the latest in a long line of disputes over messaging apps, stretching back to Tango, Viber, WeChat and WhatsApp. In this feature we’ll describe how state policy has shifted over time, and discuss why Telegram is currently at the top of the food chain in Iran’s messaging ecology.
We’ve also conducted a new survey of 790 Filtershekanha users, enquiring about their messaging habits, and asking them what they think about various apps’ security mechanisms. Iranian Internet Messaging Apps 4 Infrastructure and Policy Report
From Viber to Telegram
The shift in popularity from Viber to Telegram seems to have largely taken place in the spring of 2015. In April, ISNA news agency reported serious disruptions on Viber. Up until this point, Iranians had been very active Viber users, with a Weblognews report suggesting that Iranian traffic made up 11.8% of Viber’s total worldwide. Following the disruptions, it appears many Iranians switched to Telegram. The same report, published in May 2015, notes that as of May 31, Iranian users made up the second largest share of the app’s users of any country, after the United States.
The surging popularity of Telegram in Iran did not escape the notice of the authorities. On May 11, the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), a large ISP, blocked Telegram in a number of cities. Then, in early June, mobile users throughout Iran reported huge service disruptions to Telegram.
Interest in Telegram seems to have peaked in October, when the company’s CEO Pavel Durov claimed that Iran’s ICT ministry had requested “spying and surveillance software.” According to Durov, when he refused this request, the ICT ministry responded by blocking Telegram. ICT minister Mahmoud Vaezi disputes this account, but numerous disruptions to Telegram were reported around this time.
Still, Telegram remains one of the most widely used messaging apps in Iran. In our survey of 790 Iranian internet users, 76% rated Telegram as the messaging app they used most frequently. Moreover, numerous state institutions (including Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, the Supreme Leader’s office, and hardline news agencies including Fars News and Mashregh News) have official Telegram channels, making Telegram one of very few non-Iranian platforms openly used by Iranian officials.
While it seems like the initial interest in Telegram was likely prompted by disruptions to Viber, the reason for the sustained interest in Telegram among users and Iranian officials—despite similar disruptions—appears to owe something to the surprisingly enthusiastic engagement of the Iranian media establishment with Telegram channels.
As Telegram continues to dominate headlines, the authorities appear to have largely lost interest in Viber. Alongside Whatsapp, Viber was first blocked in February 2013. Yet it was moved more squarely into the authorities’ crosshairs in September 2014, when Iran’s then General Prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, sent a letter to the ICT Minister setting a one month deadline for the blocking of WhatsApp, Viber and Iranian Internet Messaging Apps 5 Infrastructure and Policy Report
Tango. While the deadline came and went without major disruptions to the apps, this letter marked the beginning of an ongoing public discussion about blocking Viber.
Official interest in Viber began to wane in the Spring of 2015, not long after severe disruptions and slow connection speeds on Viber led many users to switch to Telegram.
This chart tracks the number of statements made by government officials each month about major messaging apps in use in Iran.
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The Case of WhatsApp
While WhatsApp was first blocked in February 2013, the real battle over this popular messaging app took place the following spring. On April 30, 2014, the Committee to Determine Instances of Criminal Content (CDICC) ordered a block on Whatsapp, citing Facebook’s acquisition of the company. ICT Minister Mahmoud Vaezi refused to implement the block, prompting a standoff between Rouhani’s ICT Ministry and the CDICC. For[ more on this conflict, see our reportRevolution Decoded]
Survey
Between December 7–14 we conducted a survey of 790 users of the VPN website Filtershekanha, asking them about their messaging habits and their feelings about the security of various messaging platforms.
Although Filtershekanha users are not necessarily representative of the Iranian public at large, these results do offer a window into the mindset of tech-savvy Iranian users about the security of a range of messaging apps.
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essa es 155 (19.6%)
essa in apps 635 (80.4%) Iranian Internet Terms and Conditions 7 Infrastructure and of Iranian Services Policy Report
The scale at which messaging apps outperform SMS messaging is quite impressive, demonstrating in part why the Iranian government is so intent on formulating a coherent policy towards messaging apps.
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Telegram is far and away the most frequently-used messaging app in Iran today, with more than three quarters of our sample reporting it at their most frequently used messaging app. Viber, Tango and WeChat— former top dogs of the messaging ecology—have seen their status radically diminished. Viber—one of the previous top targets of the Iranian government—is now only the app of choice of 1% of our sample.
Please rate t e follo in essa in apps in ter s of o secure you feel usin t e
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Interestingly, Viber, Tango and Line—all previous targets of Iranian government scrutiny—are perceived as largely insecure by the users in our sample. At the same time, Telegram and WhatsApp—the most widely-used messaging apps—are considered to be the safest.
This correlation between perceptions of safety and usage patterns suggests that privacy is something of a factor in users’ decisions about which apps to use.
Conclusion
Telegram is still riding high in Iran, where its reputation appears to have been boosted by Pavel Durov’s high-profile clash with state censors who apparently requested access to Telegram’s servers. Although officials have been increasingly vocal in recent months about the potential for the platform to carry ‘immoral’ content, Small Media believes that an outright ban of the platform is looking increasingly unlikely.
The growing use of Telegram channels by Iranian state-aligned organisations and officials is one indicator that the establishment may be coming to terms with the impossibility of containing, banning or censoring messaging apps. Instead, it appears they are trying to take advantage of the platform’s popularity, producing more and more state-approved content for Telegram’s massive user base. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Iranian Internet 10 Infrastructure and Policy Report
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Content Filtering and Blocked Sites
• November 4: According to Mehr News Agency, users in Iran still have access to porngraphic channels on Telegram. Previously, Telegram stated that they will block all porngraphic channels. Recently, easy access to porn and immoral channels in Iran has been a controversial issue for the government, with hardliners urging the ICT Ministry to block Telegram. According to Mehr News Agency, Telegram has 15 million users in Iran. (Source) • November 9: Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, Deputy of Chief Justice of Iran denies arresting the administrators of ‘immoral’ social media pages and websites in Qazvin. Previously, FarsNews—which is close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—claimed that 170 people were arrested in connection with the sharing of immoral content on mobile social media pages and websites such as Telegram. (Source) • November 16: According to users and various sources, the Telegram Web service is not accessible in Iran. Telegram has 13-14 million users in Iran. (Source) • November 19: Commission to Determine the Instances of Criminal Content (CDICC) held a meeting on the subject of Telegram. The commission decided to give more time to the ICT Ministry to solve the problem of pornographic and ‘immoral’ channels. (Source) • November 29: Kheft Giri, a crowdsourcing website designed to help map incidences of crime in Tehran was filtered just two days after its official launch. The website was completely shut down by its founders after the block was imposed. (Source) Iranian Internet 11 Infrastructure and Policy Report
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Statements from Ministries and Politicians
• November 1: The Director of Iran’s Passive Defence Organisation (IPDO), Gholamreza Jalali said his organisation has produced guidelines for the use of smartphones in state and government offices. He added that using social media could cause ‘problems’ for users, though he went on to state that information shared on social media by Iranians is the same as the country’s national wealth. Jalali also stated that 96% to 97% of attacks on social media networks are carried out by terrorist groups or political opponents. (Source) • November 1: ICT Minister Mahmood Vaezi stated that his Ministry has been receiving assistance with the development of the National Information Network (SHOMA) from 15 Iranian experts living outside Iran. He added that all Iranian experts are welcome to assist in the development of SHOMA, wherever they are based. Vaezi denied reaching an agreement with the US-based company AT&T over the development of SHOMA. (Source) • November 1: Mahmoud Khosravi, Director of the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC) said that the TIC plans to make local VPNs that can be used by government organisations. He said only 1% of VPNs are utilised in a ‘useful’ way. (Source) • November 2: Vaezi apologised to Iranian Internet users for disruption to internet access. Iranian users faced significant and sustained disruptions to access in October 2015. Vaezi also said his Ministry does not have any plans to block Telegram. Vaezi shared his apology and comments about the ICT Ministry on his personal Instagram account. (Source) • November 2: 10 year licences were granted to 7 different Iranian ISPs. The licence will help ISPs to provide services to users without limitations on their sales. It also required ISPs to create 20,000 broadband internet ports in the next year, increasing to 35,000 by the fifth year of the license. Source( ) • November 2: Deputy ICT Minister Ali Asghar Amidian said the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) has been barred from selling broadband internet in 8 provinces, because of overdue debts from the TCI to the TIC. Previously, the TIC banned the TCI from selling broadband access in a number of provinces owing to poor service. (Source) Iranian Internet Statements from 12 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
• November 2: Gholamreza Assadollahi MP said that the nationalisation of the TCI will not take place after objections from shareholders, who believe that nationalisation would not be profitable. In October 2015, 100 MPs signed a letter calling for the renationalisation of the TCI. (Source) • November 3: Iran assumed the rotating presidency of the Asia- Pacific Space Cooperation Organization. Its term will last for two years, and the 2017 meeting will be held in Iran. (Source) • November 4: Ali Hosnani, Deputy Director of the Tejarat Bank of Iran said his bank will be connected to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) shortly. SWIFT was instructed to disconnect its services to Iranian banks following an EU Council decision in April 2012. Iran hopes that with the lifting of Western sanctions, the banking system can return to normal engagement with the international financial system. Source( ) • November 4: Pavel Durov, Telegram CEO said that all pornography channels have been blocked due to app store policies, including from Apple’s App Store and Google Play. (Source) • November 6: Vaezi announced that Telegram and all other social networks will be filtered if they have immoral contents. He stated that the government is doing everything it can to protect Iranians from US (and other Western states’) surveillance programs. (Source) • November 6: Mohammad Hossein Moghimi, Head of Iran’s Electoral Committee said that 33% of ballots cast will be electronic in the February 2016 Parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections will be electronic. (Source) • November 6: Deputy ICT Minister Nasrollah Jahangard announced that Rouhani’s government has invested between 25,000 to 30,000 billion IRR (836 million to 1 billion USD) in the ICT sector. (Source) • November 7: Jalali said Iran needs to have a well-considered strategy for social networks and cyberspace. Previously, Jalili said that the blocking of social networks is a bad idea, and that Iran should have greater control over user-shared content and information. (Source) • November 7: According to The Wall Street Journal, the IRGC-affiliated Iranian Cyber Army has hacked the emails and social media accounts of Obama administration officials inAutumn 2015. US officials believe these series of attacks could be tied to the arrest of the Iranian businessman Siamak Namazi. This not the first time that Iran’s Cyber Army has tried to hack US officials’ accounts.Source ( I - Source II) • November 7: Vaezi said that a reliable internet infrastructure will help to create a ‘healthy’ election and a speedy count of the results. He added that increasing internet speeds in several provinces is a top priority. (Source) Iranian Internet Statements from 13 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
• November 7: Gholamreza Tajgardoon, Head of Planning and Budget Commission in Iran’s Parliament said that villages with fewer than 20 households will gain internet and landline access by March 2017, suggesting that it could revolutionise communications in villages. (Source) • November 7: TCI Director Assadollah Dehnad announced his company’s plans for 20 different ICT development projects: ◊ The TCI will invest 72,000 billion IRR (2 billion USD) in landline and mobile networks over the next 4 years. ◊ The TCI has invested 15,000 billion IRR (498 million USD) in the current Iranian year and will increase this to 27,000 billion IRR (896 million USD). ◊ The TCI has invested 11,000 billion IRR (365 million USD) in the communication network sector and 4,000 billion IRR (132 million USD) in the IT sector in the current Iranian year. ◊ The TCI will invest 250,000 billion IRR (8 billion USD) in the network sector and 20,000 billion IRR (664 million USD) in the IT sector in the next Iranian year (March 2016 - March 2017). (Source) • November 7: Vaezi stated that Telegram will not be blocked unless it crosses Iran’s red lines on pornography and immortal content. He added that Telegram has stated it will respect Iranian law. According to Vaezi, Iranian families have demanded that the ICT Ministry block immoral channels on Telegram. (Source) • November 8: According to the latest statistics from Q1 1394 (21 March- 21 June 2015), the Internet penetration rate has increased from 73% to 82.12%.
The internet penetration rate was calculated based on 61,709,929 users, and 43,026,279 subscribers.
According to these statistics, the broadband penetration rate reached 32.31% by the end of 1393 (March 2015) but has since increased to 48.37%. North Khorasan province had the lowest penetration rate, at 41%. (Source)
[Table 1] - Internet penetration rates, by connection type users subscriber internet penetration rate adsl 16,583,052 6,632,821 22.07% 3g N/A 29,058,719 38.67% dial-up 6,934,760 3,467,380 9.23%
wimax 3,028,398 1,211,259 4.03%
fiber optic 6,106,000 2,650,000 8.13% Iranian Internet Statements from 14 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
[Table 2] - Provinces with highest internet penetration rates province users subscriber internet penetration rate tehran 14,392,000 11,085,000 118,13% mazandaran 3,360,472 1,919,000 109%
qom 1,156,000 N/A 100.39%
isfahan 4,657,772 N/A 95.46%
khuzestan 4,298,197 N/A 94.85%
• November 8: Vaezi said Internet bandwidth will increase to 4,000 Gbps by the end of 2015. According to Vaezi, the Internet bandwidth was 620 Gbps in the beginning of Rouhani’s government, and 2,400 Gbps currently. (Source) • November 8: Vaezi announced the ICT Ministry did not receive its entire allocated budget in the first half of 1394 (March 2015- September 2015). The ICT Ministry’s budget for the current year is 96.75 billion USD. (Source) • November 8: Seyed Abolhasan Firouzabadi, Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) has appointed Amir Khorakian as Deputy of Content, Ebrahim Yaftian as Deputy of Planning and Management Development, and Mojtaba Jafari as Deputy of Security in the National Center of Cyberspace (NCC). Deputy of Regulations Saeed Mahdioun and Deputy of Technology Abbas Asousheh remained in their positions. (Source) • November 8: SCC member Seyed Ezatollah Zarghami said there are numerous orders left for the SCC to review. Previously, he expressed frustration with the delays and disorganisation of SCC meetings. He also warned that Iran’s enemies are investing in social media campaigns to derail the next parliamentary elections in February 2016. Zarghami served as the Director of IRIB from July 2004 to November 2014. (Source) • November 9: Ali Asghar Ansari, Deputy Director of the Information Technology Organization of Iran (ITC) said that 65% of the most popular Iranian websites are hosted inside the country, and that Iran is ranked 4th globally for hosting websites locally. Ansari also added that Iran is the highest-ranked country for server hosting in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. (Source) Iranian Internet 15 Infrastructure and Policy Report
• November 9: Vaezi announced that most immoral and porn channels on Telegram have been blocked and Telegram also promised to block the rest. On the issue of other social media platforms, Vaezi commented that the ICT Ministry cannot decide by itself to unblock social media sites like Facebook, and that responsibility lies with other institutions. Vaezi also mentioned that users are demanding better internet networks. He said that the number of ADSL users has increased to 12 million from 3.2 million since Rouhani came to office, and that more than 20 million users are using mobile devices to connect to Internet. (Source) • November 10: Vaezi said Iran hopes to get back the Mesbah satellite from Italy after lifting sanctions against Iran. Italy has been holding the Mesbah Satellite for three years because of international sanctions against Iran’s missile and nuclear program. Vaezi also added that SharifSat, the satellite produced by Sharif University of Technology, is 90% ready to launch. (Source) • November 10: Vaezi appointed Hassan Haddadpour as Head of Iranian Space Research Center. Haddadpour has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering—Design Applications from the University of Tehran. (Source) • November 10:The TCI announced they will improve all the communication network of Iran that within next 3 years. According to Mehr News Agency, the TCI will invest 720,00 billion IRR (2 billion USD) in the modernization of Iran’s telecoms network. (Source). • November 10: Jahangard announced that the ICT Ministry is producing a report on the development of SHOMA, and will submit it to the SCC on completion. Recently, delays over the launch of SHOMA have caused frustration amongst Iranian authorities. (Source) • November 11: Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, Secretary of CDICC said 95% immoral and pornographic channels are still accessible on Telegram. Khoramabadi added that no CDICC members have a problem with the use of social networks, but that the only issue is ‘criminal content’ on social media. (Source) • November 11: Firouzabadi said that Hassan Rouhani ordered that SCC meetings be held at least once per month. Previously, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei expressed his displeasure with the delays and disorganisation of SCC meetings. In addition, Firouzabadi announced that two meetings were held in the past two months. (Source) • November 11: TCI Deputy Director Davood Zareian announced that the TCI has reached an agreement with the TIC to lift the moratorium on selling broadband internet access in 6 provinces. Iranian Internet Statements from 16 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
Previously, the TIC banned the TCI from selling internet access in 8 provinces because of unpaid TCI debts. Zareian added that the debt in these 6 affected provinces amounts to between 20 to 40 billion IRR (664,000 to 1 Million USD), and that debts have already been paid in Mazandaran and Hamadan. (Source) • November 12: Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi said that the blocking of social networks will not offer a solution to the problem of immoral content, suggesting that the solution is to control content and encourage domestic producers to make content which could have a positive influence on society. Source( ) • November 14: Ansari announced that Iranian data centers will be launched by the end of March 2016. According to Ansari, data centers will help the government to launch its e-Government initiatives. Previously, Alireza Shahpari, Director of the Development Center for e-Government announced that all government employees will soon be required to take part in IT training. He added that the government will spend 520 billion IRR (17 million USD) on e-Government initiatives in the current Iranian year. (Source) • November 14: The Communications Regulatory Authority of Iran (CRA) announced a new tariff for the installation of ADSL. According to the CRA, subscribers should pay 150,000 IRR (4 USD) for installation. (Source) • November 14: Firouzabadi said that the launch of SHOMA is one of the top priorities of the SCC. Firouzabadi added that the SCC has to resolve the concerns of Iran’s Supreme Leader over cyberspace. (Source) • November 14: Manouchehr Manteghi, Head of Iran’s National Space Agency (INSA) announced that Iran and Russia are collaborating to send a series of satellites with different utilities and usage. He also said they have a plan to build the Imam Khomeini satellite launcher, and the Simorgh and Tolo satellites in the near future. (Source) • November 15: Firouzabadi said 80% of the Cultural Appendix of Cyberspace has been completed and it will be provided to the SCC very soon. Firouzabadi added that 18 different plans were considered in the previous term of the SCC, but in their new term they have realised that many required improvement and completion. The new SCC term started in September 2015. Firouzabadi was elected as the new SCC Director on September 16. (Source) • November 16: Iran unveiled its first humanoid robot. NamedSorena 3, it was produced at the University of Tehran. Previous versions of Sorena were made in 2008 and 2010. The first version was 165 cm tall and 60 kg weight and the second version was 145 cm tall and 45 kg weight. (Source I, Source II) Iranian Internet Statements from 17 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
• November 16: Mohammad Ali Zarebidaki, Director of Parsijoo announced the first Iranian map service on theParsijoo search engine. According to Zarebidaki, the map has 530 different information layers. In recent years, Iran has been encouraging Iranians to use national search engines and apps. Small Media has published a comprehensive report about Iranian search engines, available here. (Source) • November 17: Ansari said that according to the latest statistics from Alexa, 87% of the top 500 websites in Iran are Iranian, and news websites are the most popular category. He added that the number of .ir websites in the top 500 had risen to 214, from 202 the previous year—43% of top sites. 123 websites in the top 500 are news websites. (Source) • November 18: On a TV show on IRIB 2, Khoramabadi said he is not keen to block social networks. He also said Iranians would not further the revolution without social media. Ruhollah Momen Nasab, a hardliner cyberspace specialist on the program said that 75.6% of Telegram users are from Iran, claimed that Telegram was designed by ‘Zionists’, and stated that Telegram servers are based in the UK. Momen Nasab also said there are no users from the USA, the UK or Israel on Telegram. Finally, Mohammad Ali Esfanani MP said that 12% of Iran’s internet bandwidth has been taken by Telegram.(Source) • 21 November: Firouzabadi said that in the next meeting of the SCC they will decide on the status of computer games and make a decision about parallel councils with overlapping responsibilities with the SCC. Previously, Iran’s Supreme Leader requested the closure of other councils to avoid conflicting or overlapping activities. (Source) • November 21: TCI Deputy Director Malek Jafarian said that the TCI’s tariffs have not changed since 2003, stating that the TCI needs to calculated the rate according to the current situation. Recently, the TCI was banned from selling their internet services because of their debt to the TIC. The TCI claims that their rates are very low and in need of recalculation. (Source) • November 21: According to the Mehr News Agency, the internet penetration rate in Iran has increased from 29% to 31.4%, with Iran holding the 112th rank internationally, behind Thailand, Algeria, Indonesia and India. The ranking and statistics were compiled by the Internet Society based on their latest report from 2015. (Source) Iranian Internet Statements from 18 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
• November 22: The ICT Ministry announced they will help and support domestic computer game producers in the country. They will provide help to produce, distribute and export computer games. (Source) • November 22: Arshia Badi, a student at Azad University, has developed an Android mobile app, ‘Israel’s Nightmare’, which shows Iran’s missile capabilities. According to Badi, his group plans to create similar apps and religious apps in every two weeks. (Source) • November 24: Firouzabadi said the production of religious content and encouragement of their use on social media is one of the SCC’s top priorities. Firouzabadi added that Iran is trying to encourage users to use more domestic, Persian-language content in cyberspace. (Source) • November 24: Vaezi appointed Mehdi Mohtashami as his deputy in International Affairs. Previously, Mohtashami was a political analyst and international advisor in the ICT Ministry. (Source) • November 24: Seyed Ali Firouzabadi, IT Deputy in Mobile Communication of Iran (MCI) said investing in 4G is not profitable and economical but it can be profitable in next two years. Firouzabadi added that the MCI will launch 10,000 4G Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and 7,000 3G BTS in the next year to facilitate widespread 3G and 4G access. (Source) • November 25: Firouzabadi will help the ICT Ministry and IRIB to end arguments over the implementation of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Last month, Mehdi Akhavan Behabadi, former Secretary of the SCC and Vice President of IRIB announced a plan to collaborate with 5 operators to offer IPTV. Behabadi said that running IPTV does not require a licence from the ICT Ministry or Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (MCIG). Vaezi replied that any operators for IPTV have to obtain a licence from his Ministry. (Source) • November 25: The SCC decided on policies around computer games. The SCC meeting was attended by President Rouhani. Members of the SCC agreed to assist domestic computer game developers through a number of measures, including funding and special discounts for advertising. (Source) • November 26: The 10th Center for Awareness, Support and Computer Emergency Response Relief (APA) launched in the University of Golestan. The APA Center will work closely with the Computer Emergency Response Team (MAHER) to provide advice and computer immunization, along with support to deal with ordinary users’ cybersecurity concerns. (Source) Iranian Internet Statements from 19 Infrastructure and Ministries and Policy Report Politicians
• November 27: Yadollah Sadeghi, President of Centre of Traders and Merchants Affairs said there are no restrictions on importing laptops, tablets and mobile phones from the US if they can provide warranty and services in Iran. (Source) • November 29: Khoramabadi said the MCIG cannot decide to block websites. According to Khoramabadi, the State Administrative Tribunal ordered the MCIG to stop blocking news websites which do not have MCIG licenses, and to retract its statement over the blocking of a number of websites. (Source) • November 28: SCC member Saeed Ameli said 25 million Iranians play computer games, spending an average of 1.5 hours per day on them. According to Ameli, 95% of computer games played are not made inside Iran. (Source) • November 28: Siamak Rah Peyk, Deputy Manager of Electoral Affairs in the Guardian Council said there is a lack of laws and regulations for e-voting in the next election. Rah Peyk said his council still has not received any suggestions for e-voting branches and areas. The Interior Ministry is working to launch e-voting for the first time in the next elections in February 2016, but the Guardian Council must first sign off on it.Source ( ) • November 28: Ali Pour Motlagh, Secretary of the Electoral Committee said that if the Guardian Council approves e-voting, 30% of the next parliamentary elections (across 9 cities) will be electronic. (Source) • November 29: Zareian said they have managed to solve the problems of the TCI overselling internet broadband access in different provinces, which put strain on bandwidth. Zareian stated that ADSL connections are back to normal. He added 90% of the bandwidth issue is solved, but the TCI still facing bandwidth restrictions in Isfahan and Kerman provinces. Previously the TIC banned the TCI from selling internet access because of existing debts. Zareian added that they have reached an agreement with the TCI over this debt. (Source) • November 29: Jaber Ansari, Spokesman and Director of the Center for Public Diplomacy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran (MFA) denied any Iranian involvement in cyber attacks launched against US officials. On November 2015,The Wall Street Journal reported that the emails and social media accounts of Obama administration officials had been hacked by Iran’s Cyber Army. (Source)