This story is pretty fascinating, but I’d argue it’s weighed down in so many qualifiers it’s practically wrong. The thesis is that Iran’s Internet censorship is showing how easy it is to control the Web.

But:

“The blockage isn’t airtight, as more-savvy Internet users in the country have access to software and other measures that allow them to get around government restrictions, Internet experts say. It is uncertain how long the restrictions will last.”

The other thing is, it seems they’re only able to “target” specific sites, not categories of sites. So the major sites, like Amazon, imdb.com, etc., go down fast — but on the Internet, second-tier and even lower sources are just seconds away, and word of good unblocked sites can spread through e-mail.

Another great development:

“Tools to get around restrictions are spreading quickly. The University of Toronto, for example, late last month announced a program called psiphon, which works on the principle of social networking. It enables a person in an uncensored country who downloads the software to turn his computer into an access point for users in censored countries. People in censored countries can use the computer as a proxy to access the broader Internet without detection by authorities.”

China, of course, is another example of heavy-handed Internet control. (Despite Google censoring itself, even it has a tough road ahead there, both with government and its competitors.)

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.