California-based Blue Coat Systems is the latest western software company to have its name
associated with Internet censorship in the Middle East.
According
to the Washington Post, Telecomix, a group founded by Swedish hackers in 2006,
was the first to report that the company’s software is being used by the Syrian
regime in its efforts to limit access to sites used by Syrian activists. The
report has gotten the attention of US officials, who are said to be
investigating the matter.
While
according to a statement from Blue Coat, no sales were made directly to the
Syrian government, it is possible that a third party was involved. With the
software available for sale on eBay, unregulated use of the software is easier
than ever.
Blue Coat’s
software is meant to be used as a means of protection, but at the same time, it
can also be used as a monitoring and censoring tool to clamp down on online
freedom of expression.
In Syria’s
case, it is believed that Blue Coat is being used to limit access to specific
sites as well as social media like Twitter and Facebook, in addition to being
used to monitor the online communication of Syrian activists.
Blue Coat’s
website provides a description of what its software is capable of doing:
- With the Web Application Policy Engine, IT administrators can set and enforce policies by operation, application or category, enabling IT administrators to manage the data loss and employee productivity risks associated with social media and other web-based applications.
In the
hands of a business or company, Blue Coat is a software suite used to ensure
productivity. In the hands of an autocratic government, it becomes a tool of
oppression.
Blue Coat
is certainly not the first, and most likely won’t be the last western software
company whose name will come up in the list of tools being used to clamp down
on Internet use by autocratic regimes. Canadian company Netsweep is one such
company whose name has been associated with the several countries in the Middle
East, and French company Amesys has had its name associated with Libyan
censorship, while others have been known to even give discounts in exchange forbug tracking.
Without any
sort of regulation, software created
like companies like Blue Coat Systems continue to fall into the wrong hands,
there is no limit to how regimes like that of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad
can continue to control and monitor Internet use in their countries.
Pratap
Chatterjee of London’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism, who reported on theissue, told the Washington Post, ”A lot
of the manufacturers don’t know or don’t want to know who’s buying their
technology because they could be subject to fines or prosecution in their
countries.”
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