[liberationtech] Executive Order: "Targeting Human Rights Abuses Via Information Technology" (Syria, Iran)

Mon Apr 23 11:52:57 PDT 2012

Jillian,

I would appreciate clarification on the statement "too little too late," I
suspect we disagree on this somewhat, but was hoping you might expand the
statement.

After far as Bahrain, UAE, KSA, et al, of course there is
a regrettable inconsistency in the application of human rights policies;
nothing new here.

Cordially,
Collin

On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 1:25 PM, Jillian C. York <jilliancyork at gmail.com>wrote:

> There's nothing wrong with it in letter, imho, nor is it overreaching (a
> good thing, considering the collateral damage of existing controls from
> Commerce).  That said, it's:
>
> a) too little too late.
> b) ridiculous that it only covers Syria and Iran and not Bahrain.
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 10:04 AM, Andrew Lewis <andrew at pdqvpn.com> wrote:
>
>> Well....
>>
>>  My fear is that either this will be fragrantly violated by cross
>> shipping equipment via Dubai, or just lead to an increase in the purchase
>> of new equipment from ZTE/Hauwei for all of the infrastructure. In the
>> worst case scenario it creates a scapegoat similar to the one Cuba uses to
>> explain away why infrastructure is so bad in country.
>>
>>
>> They seem to also be missing quite a few players in the Syrian market
>> specifically MTN-Syria, the number 2 in the local cell market, while also
>> being a South African owned subsidiary company.
>>
>> On another note, these sanctions were announced parallel to another
>> initiative to focus the US NSC on human rights and genocide, which sounds
>> like an amazing step in the right direction. On the other hand I am still
>> going to hold my breath until I see what it actually does.
>>
>> -Andrew
>>
>>
>> On Apr 23, 2012, at 12:44 PM, Collin Anderson wrote:
>>
>> FYI
>>
>>
>> http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/letter-blocking-property-and-suspending-entry-united-states-certain-pers
>>
>> http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/executive-order-blocking-property-and-suspending-entry-united-states-cer
>>
>> http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Documents/ghravity_eo_fact_sheet.pdf
>>
>> ----
>>
>> Letter -- Blocking the Property and Suspending Entry into the United
>> States of Certain Persons with Respect to Grave Human Rights Abuses by the
>> Governments of Iran and Syria via Information Technology
>>
>> Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
>>
>> Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
>> 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive
>> Order (the "order") that takes additional steps with respect to the
>> national emergencies declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995,
>> and relied on for additional steps in subsequent Executive Orders, and in
>> Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, as modified in scope and relied on
>> for additional steps in subsequent Executive Orders.
>>
>> I have determined that the commission of serious human rights abuses
>> against the people of Iran and Syria by their governments, facilitated by
>> computer and network disruption, monitoring, and tracking by those
>> governments, and abetted by entities in Iran and Syria that are complicit
>> in those governments' malign use of technology for those purposes, threaten
>> the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Consistent
>> with the vital importance of providing technology that enables the Iranian
>> and Syrian people to freely communicate with each other and the outside
>> world, as well as the preservation, to the extent possible, of global
>> telecommunications supply chains for essential products and services to
>> enable the free flow of information, the measures in the order are designed
>> primarily to address the need to prevent entities located in whole or in
>> part in Iran and Syria from facilitating or committing serious human rights
>> abuses. To address this situation, the order takes additional steps with
>> respect to the national emergencies described above.
>>
>> The order blocks the property and interests in property, and suspends
>> entry into the United States, of persons listed in the Annex to the order,
>> as well as persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in
>> consultation with or at the recommendation of the Secretary of State:
>>
>>  to have operated, or to have directed the operation of, information and
>> communications technology that facilitates computer or network disruption,
>> monitoring, or tracking that could assist in or enable grave rights abuses
>> by or on behalf of the Government of Iran or the Government of Syria;
>>
>>  to have sold, leased, or otherwise provided, directly or indirectly,
>> goods, services, or technology to Iran or Syria likely to be used to
>> facilitate computer or network disruption, monitoring, or tracking that
>> could assist in or enable grave human rights abuses by or on behalf of the
>> Government of Iran or the Government of Syria;
>>
>>  to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial,
>> material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in
>> support of, the activities described above or any person whose property and
>> interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order; or
>>
>>  to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for
>> or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and
>> interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.
>>
>> I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority, in
>> consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions, including
>> the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted
>> to the President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of
>> the order.
>>
>> All agencies of the United States Government are directed to take all
>> appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of
>> the order.
>>
>> I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> BARACK OBAMA
>>
>> --
>> *Collin David Anderson*
>> averysmallbird.com | @cda | Washington, D.C.
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> *+1-857-891-4244 |** jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork *
>
> "We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the
> seemingly impossible to become a reality" - *Vaclav Havel*
>
>
>
>

-- 
*Collin David Anderson*
averysmallbird.com | @cda | Washington, D.C.
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