The younger generation in Iran is increasingly turning to the Internet, and pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable under the rule of the mad mullahs—and the mullahs are trying to fight back. MTV helped expedite the fall of the Soviet Union, and it may be the Internet—and the weblog—that helps bring down the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It is sometimes called Iranian porn.

It appears on certain Web sites that specialize in mocking the Islamic Republic’s puritanism, featuring women with hair tumbling out of their head scarves or exhibiting deep decolletage at family gatherings,

Such sites have been officially labeled depraved recently, joining a host of other political, social and truly pornographic online destinations in Iran’s first attempt to restrict Internet access.

“After the limitations put on newspapers and other mass media, they understand that people are looking for news on the Internet,” said Reza Parisa, the director of an association of Internet service providers. “So of course, the government wants to limit access to the Internet, too.”

But like much of the regulation in Iran, the line between what is acceptable and degenerate, legal and illegal, remains fluid, so the crackdown has prompted a cat-and-mouse game between the conservative hierarchy and Iran’s younger generation, which is growing ever more technically proficient.

Even those who support filtering Internet content suspect that the effort is doomed, like earlier bans on videotapes and satellite television. The government is bound to lose, they say, as the almost 50 million Iranians under age 30 seek to have more fun.