The U.S. & Internet Oppression

Secretary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom was full of good news. The US has a more grown-up view of the complexities of Internet freedom and its importance. The bad news was in what Clinton didn’t address: the role US foreign policy and US companies play in Internet oppression. Presumably, it’s quite embarrassing for Clinton that Narus — an American company now owned by Boeing — supplied Egypt with technology that allowed it to spy on Internet users. Another American company, Cisco, provided some of the key ingredients for China’s draconian system of Web controls.