Masoud Abkenar

Human, Scientist, FLOSS activist, Software Developer

Website: https://masoud.abkenar.net
Blog: https://masoud.abkenar.net/blog/en/
نمایهٔ فارسی: مسعود :verified: (npub1gur…yyj9)‬

Last Notes

2026-10-23 06:36:39 GMT

Is this not awesome news? 😀 I wish [@NGI_Taler](https://ps.s10y.eu/@NGI_TALER ) a lot of success and cannot wait to pay with it.
Getting ready to operate Taler in Germany
https://www.taler.net/en/news/2026-13.html

2026-04-11 20:15:54 GMT

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Exactly. If some of the regime posts that are replaced during the war relate to Internet censorship (most importantly the new younger supreme leader) then I would also expect some changes, hopefully for the better.
However, I do not hold my breath. The general shift in the leadership during the war has been towards even more people of military background in political positions. I do not rule out any improvement, but I find the chances to be quite low.
@npub1j70…jedu @npub1ttq…pmql @npub1e8h…7zjt

2026-04-11 19:51:30 GMT

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I am truly impressed by the research you do and the level of care you put on this issue. You are kind!
Internet censorship was (and still is) a big political issue in Iran, even during presidential campaigns. The extent of censorship is so broad that it is very difficult to find any politician who openly supports censorship of YouTube, BBC, etc. Everybody says that "they" are against such censorship, and yet it is never given up in the last couple of decades. All decisions about which websites and services to block are made in some shady non-transparent committees with little public info about their membership, and mostly outside of the formal government. Those committees usually directly report to the supreme leader.
@npub1j70…jedu @npub1ttq…pmql @npub1e8h…7zjt

2026-01-12 14:18:05 GMT

How can a country without an anti-circumvention law handle its first trade-deal with USA?
Inspired by Cory Doctorow's Post-American Internet proposition [1], I'm thinking of the day when Iran's theocratic government falls, and the new political system starts normal economical relationship with the world.
Not only #Iran does not have any kind of anti-circumvention law, it is the biggest economy that is not a signatory to the Bern convention on copyright. Nevertheless, it has a relatively advanced and self-sufficient domestic IT world, with services for maps, video streaming, cloud services, finance, ride hailing, etc. At some point in 2021 ArvanCloud, an Iranian IT company, was the 8th highest-traffic CDN in the world.
So how would you build the almost-non-existent outward-facing economy of a big country, without falling into the usual trap of #enshittification?
Your ideas are very welcome. I would very much also like to know what Cory @npub1fdr…lvhs thinks about this :)
[1] https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/39c3/#the-new-coalition