US-Made Censorware Used To Oppress Burma

An anonymous reader writes "The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that US-made censorware is being used to oppress the people in many countries, including Burma. That in itself may not be surprising, but a more interesting point is that according to lawyers interviewed by the CS Monitor it appears to be legal — in spite of all the economic sanctions against the country, and even though people know it will be used to hush up any mention of things like attacks on peaceful protesters."

This is news?

[scgops]

Seriously, why would this surprise anyone?

This just in, companies are legally selling the same Internet filtering software used by companies, libraries, etc., to Burma, and the government is using the software for its own purposes.

Websense, one of the Internet filtering "censorware" companies mentioned in the article, had a partnership in place with Cisco starting over a decade ago to integrate URL filtering into Cisco PIX firewalls. That's how far from new this concept is. Burma could have bought all the parts they need used on eBay.

Export restrictions mainly cover encryption

[Airw0lf]

I really don't understand why that's not illegal...isn't this why there are so many restrictions on where certain programs can be legally downloaded?

That's usually due to encryption capabilities of the software being "exported." IIRC, there used to be export versions of IE that were limited to 56-bit encryption due to US export laws which classified certain types of encryption as a "weapon." But I think that's pretty much a non-issue in the developed world nowadays. Someone could correct me if I'm wrong.

Re:Hmm?

[Camael]

What the company did was against the US embargo, actually. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2144178/fortinet-investigates-sanctions/ [vnunet.com]

So yes, it's illegal but the company doesn't care.

Re:Hmm?

[im just cannonfodder]

As with the oil companies private security and weapons dealers they all seem to get around any blocks on trade and mostly originate from the usa!

the world is a testing ground for usa weapons and anti personal liberties technology until the police state is unleashed in the usa under the false guise of anti terrorism laws

US tech firm behind massive new human-tracking system in China!

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/12/us-tech-firm-behind-.html [boingboing.net]

Authorities in southern China are installing 20,000 (or more) police surveillance cameras, managed by software from an American-financed company. That spying system is designed to automatically recognize faces of criminal suspects, and spot potential crimes. And citizens of Shenzhen (pop: 12.4 million) will soon be required to carry computer-chipped residency cards programmed by that same company. Snip from NYT story: Data on the chip will include not just the citizen's name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord's phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China's controversial "one child" policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card. More about the US-financed company behind both technologies: "If they do not get the permanent card, they cannot live here, they cannot get government benefits, and that is a way for the government to control the population in the future," said Michael Lin, the vice president for investor relations at China Public Security Technology, the company providing the technology. Incorporated in Florida, China Public Security has raised much of the money to develop its technology from two investment funds in Plano, Tex., Pinnacle Fund and Pinnacle China Fund. Three investment banks -- Roth Capital Partners in Newport Beach, Calif.; Oppenheimer & Company in New York; and First Asia Finance Group of Hong Kong -- helped raise the money.

Re:Hmm?

[mr100percent]

From the article:

The firm, says ONI, responded by saying it doesn't sell software directly to end-users. ONI challenges Fortinet's claim, pointing to a 2004 article, reachable online, by the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper. The story covers a ceremony bringing together Burma's prime minister and Benjamin Teh, described as "an official representative of Fortinet." "Given Mr. Teh's participation, it seems unlikely that Fortinet did not know of the sale of its software to Burma," notes the ONI report.

Anyway, How is it illegal to export this software to Iran but not Burma?