Iranians angered by the results of the country's presidential election have been using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate and organise. -- PHOTO: AP
WASHINGTON - A US computer trade association expressed concern on Monday over reports that Iran was using Western-supplied technology to crack down on political opponents online.
'Reports that Iran is using this technology to detect political dissenters online are disturbing,' said Ed Black, president and chief executive of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA).
'The Internet can be a tool to enhance political communication and participation in a democracy,' he said in a statement. 'Or it can become an even more intrusive way for a government to control access to information, spy on its citizens and detect political adversaries.
'Iran is yet another example of why the use of certain technologies such as deep packet inspection (DPI) needs to be restricted,' added Mr Black. DPI allows network operators or a government to intercept data on the Internet, deconstruct it to search for particular keywords and then reconstruct it in a matter of seconds, the CCIA said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the Iranian authorities appear to be using DPI, which allows them to not only block Web communications but to monitor them to gather information. The newspaper said the monitoring capability was provided, at least in part, by Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture of German conglomerate Siemens and Finnish cellphone company Nokia in late 2008.
The newspaper cautioned, however, that it could not be determined whether the equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks was being used specifically by the Iranian authorities for DPI.
Nokia Siemens Networks spokesman Ben Roome told the Journal that a 'monitoring centre' installed within the Iranian government's telecom monopoly was part of a larger contract with Iran that included mobile phone networking technology. 'If you sell networks, you also, intrinsically, sell the capability to intercept any communication that runs over them,' Mr Roome told the newspaper.
Iranians angered by the results of the country's presidential election that returned hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power have been using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate and organise.
They have also been posting videos of violent post-election protests and clashes to video-sharing sites such as YouTube. 'When network operators - either a government or commercial operator - use deep packet inspection, the privacy of Internet users is compromised,' Mr Black said.
'In the wrong hands, this privacy invasion quickly turns into a human rights violation.'Restricting the use of DPI to protect the freedom of the Internet is a step toward preserving freedom that responsible, democratic governments should be taking,' he added. -- AFP
