Question: When did Iran first gain access to the internet?
About the article "Iran", section "Humanities".

Candidate passages:
In the first decade of the 21st century, Iran experienced a great surge in Internet usage, and, with 20 million people on the Internet, currently has the second highest percentage of its population online in the Middle East, after Israel.
When initially introduced, the Internet services provided by the government within Iran were comparatively open.
Many users saw the Internet as an easy way to get around Iran's strict press laws.
In recent years, Internet service providers have been told to block access to pornographic and anti-religion websites.
The ban has also targeted such popular social networking sites as Facebook and YouTube, as well as news sites. 
IRNA is one of the first to join the Internet in Iran.
It joined the web on December 16, 1996, starting at the speed of 19,200 kbit/s.
On March 23, 1997, IRNA opened its own website, which reached the speed of 512,512 kbit/s a year later.
Due to interest shown on the wide range of information available in the Internet IRNA decided to offer lines for lease and dial-up services for its clients.
IRNA has also increased the bandwidth of its satellite band up to 2MEG/2MEG to meet the ever-increasing demand for this medium.
To provide services to all interested parties wishing to gain access to Internet information, IRNA has established an Internet cafe (Coffeenet) on the ground floor of its Tehran headquarters. 
Users put their computers at risk when accessing the Internet and other networks.
The use of either of these allows others to gain access to a user's system and important information.
By implementing certain strategies, defensive users aim to reduce the risk associated with network access. 
Every ISP must be approved by both the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and must implement content-control software for websites and e-mail.
ISPs face heavy penalties if they do not comply with the government filter lists.
At least twelve ISPs have been shut down for failing to install adequate filters.
The state blacklist consists of about 15,000 websites forbidden by the Iranian government.
Before subscribers can access Internet service providers, they must first promise in writing not to access "non-Islamic" sites.
In 2008, Iran has blocked access to more than five million Internet sites, whose content is mostly perceived as immoral and anti-social. 
Currently SOWN accepts any academic from the University of Southampton.
This includes staff and students.
When connecting to a node, they are confronted (once attempting to access a web page) with a login screen.
They can login using their University of Southampton credentials.SOWNHOME nodes also all have eduroam access, and broadcast the eduroam SSID.
This allows academics of a multitude of universities and other educational establishments to log into the nodes using their home institution's authentication details.
Any non-academic can also gain access to the network, they can apply for a "Community Account" which will allow them access to the SOWN network and internet on SOWNhome nodes, and access to the SOWN network (not internet) on campus nodes.