Nokia Siemens "instrumental to persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents", says EU
A European Parliament resolution has criticsed Nokia Siemens involvement in Iran
By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor, 11 Feb 2010,
A European Parliament Resolution has criticised Nokia Siemens
Nokia Siemens has been condemned in a European Parliament resolution for its links with Iran. The company was criticised for “providing the Iranian authorities with censorship and surveillance technology [and] being instrumental to persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents”.
Nokia Siemens has vigorously denied that it has provided anything to Iran that is not completely standard in other countries around the world.
The resolution further called on EU institutions to "ban the export of surveillance technology by European companies to governments and countries such as Iran". Nokia Siemens, however, said it had provided only “limited monitoring capabilities, similar to those used by law enforcement in many countries, for predefined phone numbers only”. It added that their system, supplied to Iran in 2008, “does not allow the scanning of network traffic in order to discover or identify users based on the content of their transmissions”.
In a lengthy Q&A released on Nokia Siemens’s website, the company went on to deny providing any continued support for the technology, which it no longer sells, and adds that it offers no facility for the detailed inspection of the small amount of email traffic which is carried on Iran’s mobile networks. In Iran, mobile networks have “clearly have played a pivotal role in their ability to communicate, organize, and share their story with the outside world”, the company said.
Credits: Telegraphe.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7213538/Nokia-Siemens-instrumental-to-persecution-and-arrests-of-Iranian-dissidents-says-EU.html
Nokia burned by EU for assisting Iran with monitoring technology
Nokia has been helping the Iran government with surveillance technology to track mobile phone users since this issue became known by the media in June of 2009. A European Parliament resolution on Wednesday hits Nokia Siemens point blank:
In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the MEPs said the hardware was instrumental in the “persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents”.
Surveillance in Iran is especially worrisome because surveillance techniques, applications and devices could be used to violate human rights that the EU requires its signatory nations — and corporations - to abide to.
Some Members of the European Parliament are considering harsher penalties against the company. In a BBC article posted today:
Nokia Siemens said the technology that it had installed was similar to that used “in all EU member states and the US”.
“When you set up a modern network - as an operator - if you want a licence to operate you have to have a standard surveillance capability in the network,” Christina Dinne, also of the firm, said.
Nokia Siemens told BBC News that it had provided “very basic surveillance” capabilities to Iran Telecom in 2008. The product is called Monitoring Centre and can be used to monitor local telephone calls.
“You can’t track keywords,” said Mrs Dinne.
The U.N. and EU have several issues to address, like sanctions that are already in place against Iran with technology being one of them. It’s not clear how or if Nokia has violated existing export of its surveillance products. According to Nokia it is in full compliance of the law. The European Parliament is set to bring a resolution forward banning the export of the technology.
The resolution “strongly criticizes international companies, and notably Nokia/Siemens, for providing the Iranian authorities with the necessary censorship and surveillance technology, thus being instrumental to persecution and arrests of Iranian dissidents”. Parliament called on the EU institutions immediately to “ban the export of surveillance technology by European companies to governments and countries such as Iran”.
Recent media reports have speculated about Nokia Siemens Networks’ role in providing monitoring capability to Iran. Nokia Siemens Networks has provided Lawful Intercept capability solely for the monitoring of local voice calls in Iran. Nokia Siemens Networks has not provided any deep packet inspection, web censorship or Internet filtering capability to Iran.
But DPI technology is not where the focus of surveillance resides, it’s the mobile phone users that the Iranian State Security is focusing on. Videos and text messages are leaking out real-time information and student demonstrations. How Nokia Siemens deals with this issue has considerable impacts. The company potentially faces a public backlash that could harm retail sales and further EU and U.S. government scrutiny. It also brings into question how surveillance products are sold in China and Venezuela, where Nokia has a significant presence and manufacturing facility. RIM, Motorola, Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, and Google will need to pay close attention as this could blow up in their faces too.
Credits: D.Hanchard/ZDNet Govt.: http://government.zdnet.com/?p=7080&tag=nl.e620
Iran Nobel winner seeks Nokia Siemens sanctions
By Gwladys Fouche, Reuters, Feb 15, 2010
OSLO (Reuters) - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi called on the West to impose sanctions on mobile systems maker Nokia Siemens Networks for providing technology that she says helped Tehran repress political opponents.
Western powers are discussing a fourth round of United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which Tehran maintains is peaceful but the West fears is aimed at building atomic weapons.
The Iranian human rights lawyer, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, is against economic sanctions on Iran that she says would hurt the Iranian people.
"Last month the U.S. government imposed a heavy fine on a Swiss bank that was trading with Iran and thereby breaking the sanctions," Ebadi said, referring to a $536 million fine on Credit Suisse Group AG.
"My question to America is this: why don't you impose the same kind of heavy punishment on corporations that provide Iran with equipment that can be used to suppress the people?
"I am talking about Siemens and Nokia because they provided Iran with equipment with which it can monitor the Iranian nation," Ebadi told Reuters in an interview in Oslo, where she is attending a conference on human rights.
"That would be a lesson to other corporations not to dare sell to the Iranian government such equipment that can be used to suppress the people," said Ebadi, who won the Peace Prize for her work for women's and children's rights in Iran.
Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Germany's Siemens and Finland's Nokia, said it provided to Iran mobile networks with an in-built capability for law enforcement agencies to listen in on conversations, in line with international standards. [...]
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