wherein the state maintains an absolute monopoly on authorized transmissions [@imp:control]. The current on network ownership was initially shaped by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in 2001 under the directives ““Overall Policies on Computer-based Information-providing Networks” and “Regulations and Conditions Related to Computerized Information Networks” [@cso_trc; @ihrdc:ctrl]. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which offer last-mile network connectivity, are privatized, but subject to strict licensing requirements and communications laws that hold companies liable for the activities of their customers.[^3] In addition to administrative requirements for filtering according to a nebulous and growing definition of subjects deemed ‘criminal,’ ISPs are forced to purchase their upstream connectivity from government-controlled international gateways, such as the state-owned telecommunications monopoly, the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI), which appear to implement an auxiliary, and often more sophisticated, censorship regime on traffic in transit across its network. Even amongst privately-owned networks, perspective entrepreneurs appear to be encouraged or coerced into ownership consortiums with the ever present set of Bonyads, charitable trusts often connected with the Iranian ideological establishment [@turkcell]. While a substantial amount has been written on controls imposed on content, the salient principles to our domain of research are the obligations of independent providers to the 