There is a very interesting article by Xeni Jardin in today's NY Times that references some of the recent findings of the OpenNet Initiative. Xeni points out that the issue of commercial filtering technologies goes far beyond China, and notes our findings concerning those technologies being used in several other countries, like Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and others. Xeni argues that censorship technologies like these should be added to the US export munitions control list -- an interesting argument. Let's wait and see if the momentum continues to build...

We (the OpenNet Initiative) have just released our new report on Internet filtering in Yemen.

Two things to note about this report. First, the Yemen report is the first that we are releasing in simultaneous English and Arabic translations. It is important to us to have an impact among the constituencies that matter most to the topics we are investigating, so look for future reports to have similar simultaneous translations.

The second issue concerns the findings of the report itself. Our investigations confirmed that Yemen is using a western filtering product, Websense, to filter access to information on the Internet. Although Yemen filters mostly pornography, the Yemen case offers yet another troubling example of a commercial company aiding a regime that violates human rights (in this case freedom of speech and access to information). Below is my quotation from the press release:

As a developing Middle East country on the frontline of the “War on Terror,” Yemen faces numerous difficult and unique security and policy challenges. The pressures (both domestic and international) to compromise human rights and political liberties in favor of order and security are enormous and likely difficult to resist. In light of these pressures, it is remarkable that Yemen does not presently extensively filter political opposition, dissident, and human rights websites, focusing its attention primarily on pornographic and other sexual-related material. However, the largely secretive nature of its filtering regime, combined with the use of yet another US commercial filtering product, raises serious questions about accountability and respect for basic human rights for both Yemen itself and the company providing the filtering technology, Websense.

Une technologie développée conjointement par plusieurs laboratoires de prestigieuses universités canadienne, américaine et anglaise pourrait arriver à détourner la censure numérique qui sévit dans plusieurs pays du monde, et notamment en Chine. Ce système est en phase d'achèvement au Canada, et pourrait rendre rapidement un peu d' " e-liberté " aux quelque cent dix millions d'internautes chinois.

More here