Online world pitches in for Iran protests

Sites offer safe haven for web users to post information.

A major international online effort is emerging to aid those protesting Iran's presidential elections.

The campaign has enlisted activists and IT experts alike in an effort to help users within Iran safely and confidentially post information about the recent protests over the country's disputed election.

One of the groups taken part in the effort is Anonymous. The online activist group best known for its clashes with the Church of Scientology said that it would be providing a forum which would "serve as an avenue of communication between Iranians, their families abroad and other interested parties from across the internet."

The forum, which is also backed by the Pirate Bay, allows users to post not only photos and information on protests, but also provide a missing persons database and link users to proxy servers to avoid detection.

Other efforts to skirt state censorship are being lead by individuals around the globe. In San Francisco, a man named Austin Heap is leading an effort to keep Iranians safely posting information about the protests.

An IT director by trade, Heap has been coordinating an effort through his blog to help users set up and maintain proxy servers to allow access to systems within Iran.

The effort is part of what has become an unprecedented online campaign in support of the protestors. Shortly after the demonstrations began, users took to blogs and Twitter in an effort to relay information from within the country and coordinate efforts against the standing government regime.