US lifts sanctions on IT exports to Cuba, Iran and Sudan

US technology firms will be allowed to export services related to web browsing, blogging, email, instant messaging, chat, social networking and photo- and movie-sharing. Deputy treasury secretary Neal Wolin mentioned recent events in Iran - where opposition supporters have used social networking sites and services to organise protests - as an example of how personal internet-based communications are powerful tools for the free flow of information, which he described as "a basic human right".

Meanwhile, the BBC World Service published on Monday the results of a poll that found that almost four in five people across the 26 countries surveyed believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right.