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U.S. Company Helps Saudi Arabia Censor The Net

Posted by timothy on from the or-the-next-bidder-steps-in dept.

John writes: "Saudi Arabia blocks its citizens' internet access to some sites on pornography, religious information (including some on the state religion: Islam) humor, music, movies, and homosexuality, and programs that translate web pages into Arabic, according to this Boston Globe article. (Secure Computing Corp.) provides the Saudis with Smartfilter to block network of proxy servers. The article does not describe the criteria used to block various cites. I wonder if Slashdot is one of them?" Update: 07/17 15:02 GMT by T : A brief mention ran yesterday at the Censorware Project as well, linking to the referenced report itself.

2 of 26 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, yes, this is news by Bouncings · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Let's see. The American government helps other nations:
    • Put down opposition parties
    • Solidify military control
    • Exploit their workforces through low-wage jobs
    • Censor virtually everything else
    And now we're all terrible shocked that American firms are being used in the development of censorware for a foreign government? I'm surprised the DOD isn't bankrolling the ENTIRE project.
    --
    -- Ken Kinder ken@_nospam_kenkinder.com http://kenkinder.com/
  2. About corporations.... by Elpacoloco · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Capitalist law can be pretty harsh.

    Corporations are required by their bylaws to make as much money as possible. By any means possible.

    If it were legal to mug people, they would. They would have to. If it were legal to sell child porn, they would. They would have to.

    One exception.
    They won't do it if they think that the public support that they would lose is greater than the profits that they would gain. Corporations do not wish to shoot themselves in the foot to make a buck.

    Which is exactly why we should make a big stink about this.

    If we let them get away with it, they'll keep doing it. They have to.

    But if we bitch and moan and whine and complain and boycott, they'll consider these projects to be shooting themselves in the foot.

    That is, if we have money.