Mullahs censoring internet with "illegal and unauthorized" software

Iranian.ws:

A security firm blamed for contributing technology to Iran's Internet censorship rejected the charge, and said any use of its software by Iran is "illegal and unauthorized."READ MORE

According to a statement issued Thursday by Secure Computing's chief executive, John McNulty, his company "has sold no licenses to any entity in Iran, and any use of Secure's software by an ISP in Iran has been without Secure Computing's consent and is in violation of Secure Computing's End User License Agreement."

On Tuesday, Secure Computing was cited in a report as "complicit" in the Iranian practice of blocking a third of all Web sites from its citizens. The report was issued by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a collection of researchers from Harvard, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cambridge, who challenge state-run Internet censorship.

According to the ONI report, Iran used Secure Computing's SmartFilter Web content filtering package. "By providing filtering systems to non-democratic regimesSecure Computing is complicit in Iranian breaches of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights," said ONI in its report. Among the type of sites that the Iranian government blocks, ONI claimed, are pornographic sites, sites with gay and lesbian content, political sites, women's rights sites, and blogs.

McNulty said all use of his company's software was unauthorized. "We have been made aware of ISPs in Iran making illegal and unauthorized attempts to use of our software," he said. "Secure Computing is actively taking steps to stop this illegal use of our products.