Via BBC: Iran charged the United States with asking an Internet provider to stop hosting an online news agency. The Planet, which hosts the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), had been offered no explanation, only an e-mail from the U.S. service provider, saying the Web site would not function after 48 hours. The shutdown comes in a series of incidents that has propelled Iranian online media into the limelight, including the imprisonment of 20 bloggers and journalists since summer. (See related brief.) Other news sites in Iran fear similar fates and the incident has sparked fresh appeals for Iran’s own communication technology.








