Dishing It In

Just as Afghanistan's Supreme Court blocked cable movies in Jalalabad, Iran's reformist parliament lifted that country's futile 1995 restrictions on satellite dishes. The liberalization won't become law until it is approved by Iran's conservative Guardian Council.

Among the objections to dishes: legalizing them would "legalize sin" and place Iran under "the control of media and satellite channels that routinely propagate capitalism through its advanced technology and break all cultural resistance to [capitalism]."

Reportedly, most Iranians already watch programs they receive via their now-illegal dishes.