In a blow to the country's estimated five million internet users, service providers have been told by Iran's Islamic government to restrict online speeds to 128 kilobytes a second and been forbidden from offering fast broadband packages, writes The Guardian. Banning high-speed internet makes it more difficult to download foreign music which the authorities blame for undermining Islamic culture among the younger generation.
According to the newspaper a petition branding the high-speed ban as "backward and unprincipled" bearing more than 1,000 signatures is to be sent to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran filters more websites than any other country apart from China. Also satellite dishes are banned because they are said to bring "corrupt Western values" into the Iranian homes.