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

Mon Apr 23 12:00:38 PDT 2012

Like I said, there's nothing inherently wrong with these restrictions and I
hope they'll have an impact.

But, as you well know, the news about BlueCoat is now more than six months
old (that's the too late part).  The "too little" part is that these do
absolutely nothing to ensure that good technologies can reach Syrians
which--as you also know--continues to be the number one complaint from the
ground re: US involvement or lack thereof.  While governments will always
find a way around export controls (unfortunately), citizens won't always.

On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 11:52 AM, Collin Anderson <collin at averysmallbird.com
> wrote:

> 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.
>
>

-- 
*+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*
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