Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

U.S. Authorizes Sales of American Communication Tech To Iran

Posted by Soulskill on from the applying-a-sepia-filter-to-your-breakfast-is-a-fundamental-human-right dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A report at SF Gate notes that 'The United States has lifted portions of two-decades-old sanctions against Iran in an effort to bolster communication between the country's citizens — and potentially aid organization against a repressive Iranian government. Thursday afternoon the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control authorized the sale of hardware and software that pertain to the Internet, instant messaging, chat, e-mail, social networking, sharing of media, and blogging — basically, all things digital. The Treasury Department wrote, 'As the Iranian government attempts to silence its people by cutting off their communication with each other and the rest of the world, the United States will continue to take action to help the Iranian people exercise their universal human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.'"

21 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder... by HaZardman27 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do you have to pay extra to not have Stuxnet installed out-of-the-box?

    --
    Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
    1. Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, I think they're stux with it.

    2. Re:I wonder... by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      Do you have to pay extra to not have Stuxnet installed out-of-the-box?

      Not if you accept advertising.

      Wonder documents for democratic enhancement! Act now!

      This little blue pamphlet changed my life! It can change yours too!

      Do you suffer from low vote count?

      Too tired to run from the secret police and government mobs? Not healing quite as fast? You may be suffering from low Freedom count.

      Is an economic collapse coming from sanctions on nuclear activities? Read this to know how to prepare!"

      Revealed: One weird trick that the Mullahs don't want you to know that you can use for more freedom and prosperity.

      I quit my job at the Natanz nuclear centrifuge plant and am now working from home selling love tonic on the internet and have tripled by salary! You can too! I'll tell you how.

      Moderately naughty full length Western night shirt style ankle revealing T-shirts with snappy slogans!:
      Bad government didn't end with the Shaw!
      I prefer my cranks on truck, not in governing council!
      Restore Persian glory! Out with the Ayatollahs!
      Why is it in Iran that Human Rights always seem to be wrong?
      Chop spending on missiles and Photoshop artists, not heads!
      Iran is a granola dictatorship: our leaders are nuts and flakes

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  2. The fine print... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Funny

    >> U.S. Treasury Department: "universal human rights, including the right to freedom of expression"

    The fine print: "...unless you advocate the rule of law based on the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights."

  3. Infiltrate! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    You do realize this is simply a cold hearted attempt to bring Iran to it's knees. Hear me out ....

    - Iran is subjected to crushing economic sanctions. Their economy makes Newark, NJ look like a paradise on earth.
    - Now, Apple and Sony can dump their high priced, effete toys on a naive, unsuspecting populace.
    - Billions of dollars flow outward from the Iran economy which, heretofore, had been largely supported by itinerant photoshop interns.
    - Profit
    - Iran collapses in a heap of shiny trinkets!

    USA! USA! USA! (oh, and China...)

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    1. Re:Infiltrate! by tnk1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you take away the commercial aspect, that is pretty much what they want to happen.

      They want the Iranians to see that not everyone lives in a medieval theocracy. Also, they want people to see that the US is not their enemy and that their leaders are messing with them and denying them liberties they could be having.

      The hope is that they will then see who the real enemy is: their own government.

      Of course, the shiny trinkets thing is also a distinct possibility too.

    2. Re:Infiltrate! by ceoyoyo · · Score: 3, Informative

      Forget the recent invasions of other countries, the US destabilized a democratic government and installed their own puppet dictator in Iran just over thirty years ago.

    3. Re:Infiltrate! by aztracker1 · · Score: 2

      Yay, a few million GPS targeting relays... :-)

      --
      Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
    4. Re:Infiltrate! by orgelspieler · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ha ha ha. If you think that Iranians aren't already fully aware of the way the "civilized world" lives, you're smoking crack. They know just fine. Coca-cola, Mickey Mouse, all that shit is (or at least was) commonplace. Had we left them the hell alone back in the 70's, things would have been a lot more America friendly over there. Hell, there might even be a Disney World - Prince of Persia theme park by now. The only reason they see us as the enemy is because we thought it was in our best interest to fuck with Russia by destabilizing that whole area. Mission fucking accomplished.

    5. Re:Infiltrate! by femtobyte · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They want the Iranians to see that not everyone lives in a medieval theocracy.

      Guess what? They *already fucking know that* --- and they know the *reason* they are living in a medieval theocracy is American interference blowing away their secular democracy and installing a brutal right-wing dictatorship that made theocracy look like a good choice in comparison. You're an ignorant condescending prick if you think Iran isn't already a modern, technologically savvy country filled with people who know what's going on in the world (probably much better than Fox-News-watching Americans). The Iranian people are just smart enough to know that welcoming Western megacorporate colonial oppression isn't the best solution to their "we have a sucky government" problem --- they've seen what partnering with America does to all the other countries we fuck over in the name of "economic liberalization".

    6. Re:Infiltrate! by jratcliffe · · Score: 2

      "Forget the recent invasions of other countries, the US destabilized a democratic government and installed their own puppet dictator in Iran just over thirty years ago."

      The coup against Mosaddegh was 60 years ago, not 30 (1953). Also, the dictator (the Shah) was already there.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax#U.S._role

    7. Re:Infiltrate! by wmac1 · · Score: 2

      Oh boy....

      How much do you know about a country which has 2.5 million university students (around 40,000 PhD candidates) and 11+ million university graduates and had a ranking of 17th in scientific products in 2011 (15th in 2012 ahead of Russia) : http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?area=0&category=0&region=all&year=2011&order=it&min=0&min_type=it

      Last October when I visited Iran almost all of the middle class engineers I met had an iPhone, Galaxy S3 or something like that. Streets were full of modern cars as well as Iranian made cars (Iran produces 1.1 million cars a year). If you think they are in need of their bread and food then you are in huge mistake. Iran has a PPP of $13,000.

      Not a fan of Iranian regime, but people need to educate themselves about these things before they open their mouth.

    8. Re:Infiltrate! by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      Considering we had a guy running for POTUS that was singing "Bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran" with a big shit eating grin on his face WTF does anyone here think Iran is gonna think of the USA? Not to mention the last time they had a democracy we murdered their leader and forced in the Shah so BP could get cheap oil on the backs and blood of all those murdered by our dear beloved puppet the Shah.

      I wish those that just blindly wave the flag would take a look at the history of the CIA and US Military since the end of WWII, because honestly? Most of the time we have been the BAD GUYS. Let me put up a quote from a former general in the US Marines, see how much of this sounds familiar...

      "I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."

      Sound familiar? BTW how many of you know that Afghanistan has a mineral deposit so big it may end up being worth more than the Iraq oil fields? Sadly the USA doesn't do a damned thing because its "right" anymore, not unless some corp can exploit a place and make out like Gods.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    9. Re:Infiltrate! by cold+fjord · · Score: 3, Informative

      ...and they know the *reason* they are living in a medieval theocracy is American interference blowing away their secular democracy and installing a brutal right-wing dictatorship that made theocracy look like a good choice in comparison.

      I doubt that many Iranians share your ignorance on the matter. If you know much at all about the history there, you know that the so-called secular democracy that was replaced consisted solely of the former Prime Minister who had dissolved parliament, was ruling by decree indefinitely, faked an election, and resisted the sole remaining check on his power - the right of the constitutional monarch to dismiss the Prime Minister. What you refer to as "democracy" was a simple dictatorship at that point. The real coup in Iran was the Prime Minister overthrowing the government. The counter-coup was restoring, not "instilling," the Shaw to power.

      The Iranian people have clearly learned from the mistake of instilling the Ayatollahs into power, but the problem is remedying that. They ended up there in no small part due to the common interest that Muslim peoples have in instituting Islamic Sharia law, which they believe will resolve the common cultural problems in those regions, such as corruption. Unfortunately, it never really works out that way in the long term.

      The Iranian people are just smart enough to know that welcoming Western megacorporate colonial oppression isn't the best solution to their "we have a sucky government" problem

      That is nonsense beyond your bad history above. Corporations perform economic functions, not governing functions. They build trucks, mine ore, refine gasoline, can food, transport goods, run airlines, all that sort of thing. They don't elect governing legislative bodies, make laws, prosecute criminals, or make government policy. Economic activity versus government activity - they are different activities carried out by different groups in society. Although to truly prosper, a nation needs to get both activities right.

      they've seen what partnering with America does to all the other countries we fuck over in the name of "economic liberalization".

      It would be a shame if they turned out as well as Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, or various other countries, wouldn't it? Iraq would be in much better shape if Iran wasn't shipping arms to Iraqi Shia militias and using their Revolutionary Guards Quds Force (Special Forces) to stir the pot. That is part of the "sucky government" problem you refer to, and it bleeds over into other countries.

      You're an ignorant condescending prick

      I think you might be surprised to find out how big that club really is.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    10. Re:Infiltrate! by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      Whoops, you're correct. It was the Iranian people overthrowing the US puppet thirty years ago. I have coffee now.

      The Shah wasn't a dictator any more than Queen Elizabeth II is a dictator. Iran was a constitutional monarchy (just like Canada and the UK), ruled by an elected parliament. Your own link says that the Shah fled the country during the coup because he was afraid the public would take a dim view of his actions, and only came back after the CIA had mopped up, and an American general had been dispatched to convince him to be dictator of Iran.

      That incident, which was inspired by oil of course, gave Iran, the rest of the countries in the middle east, and really all other third world countries with oil, good reason to distrust the US.

    11. Re:Infiltrate! by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      The Shah was a monster, just as nasty as Stalin was to his people and we honestly DID NOT CARE as long as big oil got to do what they want. I wish i could find another copy of the map showing CIA and US military "interventions" since WWII because there was MAYBE a dozen countries on the entire planet that the CIA or US Military hadn't fucked with, it was pretty sad to look at.

      Ike tried to warn us about this in the 1950s, about the rise of the MIC and the megacorps buying the US military and CIA to use as pitbulls for their interests but we didn't listen, you look into the history of these countries that hate us...can you blame 'em? We haven't had a single decade of peace since the end of WWII, not one, we are always stirring up shit in this or that third world country.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  4. A Welcome Move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    As an Iranian I see this as a very positive development.

    The computing technology sanctions were doing exactly what the Iranian regime wants, that is to prevent average Iranian from uncontrolled access to information. They filter the web, ban VPN services, limit home Internet access to a maximum of 128Kbps. When people are already sanctioned by their own government, better not to add to that.

    1. Re:A Welcome Move by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      As an Iranian I see this as a very positive development.

      The computing technology sanctions were doing exactly what the Iranian regime wants, that is to prevent average Iranian from uncontrolled access to information. They filter the web, ban VPN services, limit home Internet access to a maximum of 128Kbps. When people are already sanctioned by their own government, better not to add to that.

      One thing that I'd be more than a trifle concerned about is exactly which American tech outfits are lining up to do some exportin'...

      We certainly have some fine folks on Team Freedom; but we also have a massive list of spook shops and 'lawful intercept' outfits who are delightfully service oriented when it comes to assisting customers with achieving their compliance goals, so to speak...

      I'm all for Iranian citizens getting tor and PGP and friends; but I wish them luck when their government responds by inking some sweet contracts with Palantir, and Bluecoat, and Sandvine, and their ilk...

  5. Why on earth would they take it? by Invisible+Now · · Score: 2

    Particularly after what we did to Saddam's folks with IT equipment in the first Gulf War...

    --

    "Knowing everything doesn't help..."

  6. Iranian IT Correspondence by Sparticus789 · · Score: 3, Funny

    To: Cisco
    From: Iran
    Subject: OMG HELP!
    Body: Dear kind sirs of Cisco,
    My name is Barrister Allahu Akbahara Salami Mozambique. I am trying to install your router system here in order to oppress my population in the name of Allah. However, I have been trying to change the root password for your switch. Whenever I try to telnet into it, the welcome message says "America, Fuck Yeah!" and plays a strange intro song. At the same time, all of the webcams, printers, faxes, document scanners go completely haywire and my network traffic spikes.

    Also, I have a large inheritance that I believe is meant for you. Could you send me your bank account information so that I may deposit a sum of 89 billion rial ($18 US) into your account?

    Yours in kind regards,
    Barrister Allahu Akbahara Salami Mozambique

    --
    sudo make me a sandwich
    1. Re:Iranian IT Correspondence by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Informative

      I am trying to install your router system here in order to oppress my population ... the welcome message says "America, Fuck Yeah!"

      Um, no, it's Cisco.

      "We'll send you an invoice."

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)