Several civil society organizations, including Access, Fight for the Future, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Tor Project, wrote to leading technology companies in the United States calling on them to reevaluate their compliance with U.S. restrictions on exports to repressive regimes.
Under the current sanctions regime, which has been improved by measures such as President Obama’s recent executive order prohibiting the export of surveillance technology to Syria and Iran, all too often local civil society groups in these countries are negatively impacted by the very rules that are meant to protect them. For example, until recently Google blocked access from Syria to its browser Google Chrome, Picasa, and Google Earth. In these cases, dissidents and civil society groups often have to turn to lower quality alternatives at best or programs infected with malware and spyware at worst.
Furthermore, the exact services that are blocked by American companies and the reasons for these restrictions are not always public. Therefore, Access is calling on these companies to:
1. End the unnecessary blocking of services for the public of sanctioned countries;
2. Apply for export licenses where incidental transactions create potential liability concerns;
3. Disclose which services are restricted based on location or language, and the reasons for doing so;
4. Engage with civil society to identify policies and regulations that create impediments to supporting users under political duress.
For detail on the campaign please log on to https://www.accessnow.org/policy-activism/press-blog/access-joins-open-letter-to-tech-industry-addressing-overcompliance-wi
