Out of Egypt Censorship, US Tech Export Under Fire 217
AndyAndyAndyAndy writes "After it was exposed that American firm Narus had sold Egypt the Deep Packet Inspection equipment used to spy on and censor its citizens, the US House Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing where Reps. Chris Smith and Bill Keating 'grilled Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on the sale of this Internet spying technology to an Egyptian Internet provider controlled by the Mubarak regime.' It seems there is now a push for stronger controls and monitoring for technology exports 'that would provide a national strategy to prevent the use of American technology from being used by human rights abusers.'"
Several readers have noted that Hosni Mubarak has now stepped down as president of Egypt. Control of the country's affairs has been passed to the high council of its armed forces, which has some journalists and bloggers worried.
That "Worried" Blogger is FUD (Score:5, Informative)
Re:No Time to Worry! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not so scared of Army control (Score:5, Informative)
Egypt's Military, Inc. (Score:5, Informative)
Does anyone know who they really are? (Score:5, Informative)
The Muslim Brotherhood are not fanatics. They are the real equivalent of our Southern Baptists, stuffy old conservative men who want a society centered on religion. They have always condemned violence, and continually speak out against all terrorism. I wouldn't want to see them elected any more than I want our country ruled by Southern Baptists, but they are not radical terrorist Muslims. Oh, you will find some people claiming they are, but those are the same people who would believe a Muslim stamp collecting club was a terrorist organization. You won't find Al Qaeda praising the Muslim Brotherhood, indeed, all radical Muslims condemn it as too moderate.
As I said, i wouldn't want to see them elected, not because they would attack Israel, or turn against us, but they might require women to wear Burkhas and a lot of them seem quite keen on stoning adulterers. Not good, but not suicide bombers, either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood [wikipedia.org]
Re:The USG Wants Two Things From You, Narus (Score:3, Informative)
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We said we didn't want them to have a kill switch too...what hypocrisy.
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All the actions of our government over the last few years are those of a governement afraid it's own people will rise against it, not one worried about our safety from terrorists, should be clear to almost anyone by now.
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To the extent they've stopped even a single credible terrorist plot (I haven't noticed they have prevented a single one) all they've managed is to deny me some good clean fun on moving target practice -- it's a total lose-lose.
Re:Not so scared of Army control (Score:5, Informative)
Ignorance is not an excuse [investors.com] to the realities of the world.
49% of Egyptians say Islam plays only a "small role" in public affairs under President Hosni Mubarak, while 95% prefer the religion play a "large role in politics."
84% favor the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim faith.
82% support stoning adulterers.
77% think thieves should have their hands cut off.
54% support a law segregating women from men in the workplace.
54% believe suicide bombings that kill civilians can be justified.
Nearly half support the terrorist group Hamas.
30% have a favorable opinion of Hezbollah.
20% maintain positive views of al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden.
82% of Egyptians dislike the U.S. â" the highest unfavorable rating among the 18 Muslim nations Pew surveyed.
And every place where 'islam is on the rise' including moderate indonesia, you'll see: repression, repression, repression. It's not the new communism, it's a push towards the dark ages.