It's well known that GOOGLE and YAHOO long ago, in cyber time, have
been enabling the Chinese Commies to thwart and disable their
citizens' access to the Internet, which as we know conveys news and
information that definitely would be harmful to the slavemasters' grip
on power over some 1.3 billion people.
And China -- being a potentially economic GIANT on a par with the U.S.
-- China cannot be ignored by the Ciscos of the world. Even if it
means assisting a nation whose history is replete with mass
extermination of its own people!
------------------------------
"Cisco File Raises Censor****p Concerns
"Do***ent Implies Sup****t for China"
By Glenn Kessler
Wa****ngton Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 20, 2008; D01
Cisco Systems, seeking to penetrate the Chinese market, prepared an
internal marketing presentation in which it appeared to be willing to
assist the Chinese Ministry of Public Security in its goal of
"combating Falun Gong evil cult and other hostile elements," according
to a translation of a do***ent obtained by congressional
investigators.
The Cisco presentation will take center stage today at a hearing of
the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Global Internet Freedom Act,
which aims to defeat Internet censor****p. The Wa****ngton Post obtained
a copy of the presentation, the authenticity of which was confirmed by
Cisco.
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement that has been harshly repressed by
the Chinese government, which claims the group is engaged in illegal
activities.
In its PowerPoint presentation, Cisco referred to the Chinese
government's project to control the Internet, including its use by
groups such as Falun Gong. After a slide referencing the crackdown on
Falun Gong, the next slide proclaims: "Cisco Op****tunity: High start-
point planning, High standard construction, Technical training,
Security and operation maintenance."
A Cisco spokeswoman said the do***ent was six years old and was
intended only for internal use by Cisco's Chinese employees, not as a
marketing tool to entice business from the Chinese government. "The
inclusion of the statement was not appropriate," said Jennifer Greeson
Dunn. "It was simply a restatement of the government's objectives. It
has nothing to do with Cisco's objectivity and Cisco's technologies.
We are very much for freedom of expression."
Still, Cisco has sold the Chinese Ministry of Public Security what
Greeson Dunn called "generic routing and switching technologies"
designed to make the communications infrastructure more efficient. She
said Cisco has not sold any equipment meant to "identify dissidents or
hostile elements."
Mark Chandler, senior vice president and general counsel for Cisco,
will testify at the hearing held by the human rights subcommittee of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, as will Google and Yahoo executives.
Lawmakers will seek to determine whether Cisco is just selling off-the-
shelf technology or is helping China apply that technology to control
dissent.
A committee staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity because
the hearing had not yet been held, said that despite Cisco's claims of
innocence, the presentation "raises troubling questions about what
they are doing." He noted that Cisco, which provides the hardware that
governments such as China use for firewalls and surveillance systems,
has regularly assured lawmakers that it does not know how its products
are used and does not market products for censor****p. Now, he said,
"we don't know what the truth is."
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has passed the Global Online
Freedom Act to curtail the ability of U.S. companies to help foreign
governments censor the Internet. The bill, which has been endorsed by
many human rights groups and is squarely aimed at China as host of the
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, makes it a crime for U.S. companies
to turn over personal information on their users if the government
intends to repress the citizens. But opponents criticize the
legislation as taking a simplistic approach to a complex international
issue, putting private companies in the middle of a dispute between
governments.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who is chairing the hearing, has not
endorsed the House legislation but is seeking more information for
possibly proposing his own legislation.
http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/19/AR2008051902661.html
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