Slashdot Mirror
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."
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.
What the company did was against the US embargo, actually. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2144178/fortinet-investigates-sanctions/
So yes, it's illegal but the company doesn't care.
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
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.
The Truth Is Out There: