Cool Tools For Tyrants (UPDATED)

In his Legal Affairs article, “Cool Tools For Tyrants,” Derek Bambauer (Fellow at Harvard Law’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society) reminds us:

”Since the Internet came to China in 1994…technology has given the government unprecedented power to spy on its citizens, control the information they receive, and track anyone within the nation’s borders….[T]ools of this chillingly effective network were largely made in America.”

For example:

”Cisco makes Policenet, as well as the watchdog router that prevents Internet users in China from gaining access to banned websites….Cisco earns $500 million a year in revenues there and holds 60 percent of the Chinese market for routers, switches, and other sophisticated networking gear.”

Bambauer points out that such American companies, “put the U.S. in the untenable position of advocating for human rights abroad while allowing these companies to supply products that help China and other nations violate human rights.”

Bambauer recommends that U.S. export laws need tightening to:
· Require restrictions on dual-use technologies to countries where they may be used to violate human rights; and
· Impose criminal penalties to the seller of dual-use items who customizes it for easier use for human rights suppression.

Bambauer also recommends that company directors and executives act more responsibly to build into dual-use items barriers that narrow the ability to use them to be broadly used for interference in human rights. He suggests that shareholders of these technology companies pressure management through publicity and lawsuits to act more responsibly, a la those who embarrassed Nike to improve working conditions in its foreign plants.

As to the claim by such abetters of repression as Cisco and Microsoft that their Internet business in China helps open it up, Bambauer says “there is little evidence to support these views….Market freedom does not necessarily lead to personal freedom” when the technology reinforces repression.

UPDATE:

The Los Angeles Times equivocates in its editorial today:

“That has not stopped China's authorities from trying to limit access to information that doesn't serve their goals. They still deploy more than 30,000 tech-savvy police to monitor e-mail and block selected websites, often the ones with words such as "democracy" in their title. In a few cases, they have jailed Internet users who spread items considered anti-government. More than anything, China's Internet police provide their leaders with the impression that they have some modicum of control over an unwieldy landscape. That is their prerogative.

However, U.S. companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Google have a responsibility to their shareholders to stand up for the profitable operation of their businesses in China. Trying to anticipate every concern of the propaganda ministry is no way to win long-term customers. Fighting for the right to conduct business fairly and reasonably is the mark of every Western company that has succeeded in China.

U.S. companies also have an obligation, as leaders in a global medium defined by open information, to protect basic rights of individuals to express themselves without censorship — within reason.

"Within reason" are the key words here. It is within reason for China to demand that U.S. companies comply with Chinese laws and regulations. What is not within reason is a Chinese demand for compliance with unwritten whims.”

Rebecca MacKinnon puts the matter in better focus:

“And as I've said before, this issue is not just about China, Chinese politics, or Chinese users. It concerns all users of a global product. If Microsoft and other U.S. internet companies really want the long-term trust of users globally, they must demonstrate that they stand on the user's side in the face of power plays by agencies of any government which may not be acting lawfully.”

They obviously value profits over trust.

Asiapundit launches an experiment to gauge the depth of Microsoft’s willful cooperation with its Chinese paymasters.

UPDATE #2:
Georgie Geyer's column, citing the VP of programming at Radio Free Asia, says there were 70,000 peasant uprisings in China in 2004. Geyer quotes a Chinese activist: "The authorities worry that from its midst will emerge opinion leaders and organizers with special credibility and broad influence." The U.S. should be on their side, the tide of history.