Roundup of #iranelection, 5:15pm 6/15/09

This is my quick informal summary after having watched the #iranelection thread for the past day.

* Channel 4 (UK) footage of Basij Islamist Militia shooting into crowd and killing at least 1 (up to 7 casualties have been reported).

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=26415347001

* @persiankiwi (not sure of gender) reports that more than 100 students missing from Tehran University dorms, reports of several dead from last night.

* @change_for_iran (http://twitter.com/change_for_iran) is also riveting.

* Twitter is going down for maintenance for 90 minutes tonight. Many on the thread are pleading for them (the powers that be at Twitter) to hold off, showing just how essential this service is at this moment.

* Incredible photos here: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html
* The Iranian Government are obviously locking down all media which might facilitate dissent and incite more rebellion. All mobile phones are down. They are blocking most major media outlets and websites, and there is a cyberwar going on as well. Some are trying a DoS (Denial of Service) attack on Iranian Government websites.

As part of their blockage of internet sites, they are blocking the range of IP addresses that originate from Iran. This effectively shuts out people posting from the scene using Twitter and other micro-blogging services. Some Iranian Twitterers on the ground are requesting that proxies be set up by any on the outside for use which will allow them to continue to use the internet to communicate what is going on to the rest of the world.

Wikipedia: FreeGate is software that enables internet users from mainland China, Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and UAE, among others, to view websites blocked by their governments

* Here is one tweet from @Change_for_Iran:

“using freegate now, nothing else working. no power in most of the buildings & cellphones & land lines are out again. #iranelection”

* There is an interesting dilemma on the thread because some people (@stephenfry) have been answering this plea by posting the IP addresses for new proxies on #iranelection, and others are saying not to post proxies on Twitter because they are being exposed and shut down.

“If the news is important, it will find you.”