Forget the www! Iran starts it's own internet

Let it not be said the Iranians aren't determined to shut out the world. No longer will the world wide web be available in Iran. The country is starting it's own intranet.

Millions of Internet users in Iran will be permanently denied access to the World Wide Web, including popular social networking sites and email services, as the government has announced its plans to establish a national Intranet within five months.

In a statement released Thursday, Reza Taghipour, the Iranian minister for Information and Communications technology, announced the setting up of a national Intranet that would replace worldwide Internet services like Google, Gmail, Google Plus, Yahoo and Hotmail, in line with Iran's plan for a "clean Internet."

The government is set to roll out the first phase of the project in May, following which Google, Hotmail and Yahoo services will be blocked and replaced with government Intranet services like Iran Mail and Iran Search Engine. At this stage, however, the World Wide Web, apart from the aforementioned sites, will still be accessible.

The government has already started the registration procedure to apply for procuring Iran Mail ID, which mandates authentic information pertaining to a person's identity, including national ID, address and full name. Registration will be approved only after verifying it against the government data on the particular applicant.

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