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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Nokia and Siemens: providing tech support to Iran's tyrants |
| 2009-06-22 |
| Roger Simon, Pajamas Media The Wall Street Journal is reporting extensively on the sale of advanced web monitoring equipment to Iran by a joint venture of Germany’s Siemens and Finland’s Nokia. Interviews with technology experts in Iran and outside the country say Iranian efforts at monitoring Internet information go well beyond blocking access to Web sites or severing Internet connections. Much of this technology comes from the joint venture, which now has blood on its hands. Siemens has “been there and done that” (profited from fascism) and should have known better, but it didn’t. In any case, if you can construct advanced equipment of this nature, there’s a good chance you know how to jam or override it. The joint venture should provide this information as quickly as possible to people and organizations that can do something about this before it is used for even more nefarious purposes (when Iran gets the bomb). Other high technology companies should immediately desist from dealing with Iran. That includes General Electric, whose record on Iran is checkered at best. Technology companies who do not do this voluntarily should be boycotted. Due to Twitter, etc., this is probably happening already. A significant number of people - myself included - will not be thinking of Nokia for their next cell phone. Giving advanced equipment to the mullahs is sort of like handing a loaded machine gun to Charles Manson.... |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #6 Strike those two off my cell phone list. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-06-22 21:56 |
| #5 Cell phones can be used as a bugging and locating device even when turned "off". The microphone can be remotely activated and conversations overheard even when you think the phone is not active. The only way to be safe is to remove the battery. http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html It isn't just Iran. Our own government does it. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2009-06-22 21:46 |
| #4 Unfortunately this is just business as usual. Companies have no nationality, no morale and no pride. The technology in question is actually used in most advanced networks, just that usually these networks are not in the hands of one government. But companies will not mind: Yahoo will turn over the identy of dissidents to China if sales are menaced, monitoring software will be installed on every computer exported to China. Good thing is that the internet was designed to survive nuclear war. So new monitoring technologies will sooner or later find their match, just as Apple iPhones will be jailbreaked. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2009-06-22 20:41 |
| #3 keeping german industry alive : the marshell plan |
| Posted by: 746 2009-06-22 19:45 |
| #2 Lovely company that Siemens, and such a colourful history. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-06-22 19:25 |
| #1 Guess the sanctions don't cover it, huh? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-06-22 19:20 |