Washington D.C. (28 June 2012) – United for Iran joined a broad coalition of organizations in sending a public letter calling upon American and European companies to guarantee that the Internet services they provide are not unnecessarily blocked for individuals in sanctioned countries. The letter was addressed to the leaders of Go Daddy, Oracle, Google, Apple, McAfee, Geeknet, Adobe, Rackspaces, Yahoo, AVG and Facebook. The NGOs stressed the importance of online media in countries like Iran, Cuba, Sudan and Syria noting its essential role in furthering human rights where they might otherwise be stifled. Referencing recent “changes to Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) programs,” and the United States’ avowed support for “securing the Internet as a mechanism to promote human rights abroad,” the NGOs called on the companies to not unduly limit the scope of their services in embargoed countries. “As technology and business leaders, your companies bear the unique obligation to establish forward-thinking industry standards on responsible business policies, procedures, and practices,” they wrote. The letter also detailed the services denied, including a variety of Google apps, Yahoo messenger, Norton Antivirus, Sourceforge, and more. The signatories to the letter included the National Iranian American Council, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access, and others. Finally, the letter closed with four specific requests to the companies in question: “End the unnecessary blocking of services; apply for export licenses where incidental transactions create potential liability concerns; disclose which services are restricted based on location or language, and the reasons for doing so; and, engage with civil society to identify policies and regulations that create impediments to supporting users under political duress.” The Letter: Dear Sir or Madam, While American and European companies provide unmatched platforms for free expression and citizen journalism, misapplications of export regulations have created a chilling effect on the free flow of information to those living under repressive regimes. We are writing to urge you to take necessary steps to ensure important Internet communication services provided by your companies are not unnecessarily blocked for individuals in sanctioned countries. In places such as Iran, Cuba, Sudan and Syria, online media has emerged as a sanctuary to debate ideas, report human rights violations, and support women’s rights. Increasingly, these communities have faced the denial of essential services by your companies, stifling opportunities to affect social and political change, as activists struggle to restore the means they rely on to communicate freely and support their operations. As technology and business leaders, your companies bear the unique obligation to establish forward-thinking industry standards on responsible business policies, procedures and practices. While we understand there are fears about running afoul of the complex legal structure of sanctions regimes, civil society’s voice is stifled when access to the Internet is blocked without cause. We are confident that providing services to the public of embargoed countries can be accomplished without peripherally exposing good-faith actors to new liabilities or undue legal hurdles. Where constructive steps have been taken to expand product availability, such as Google Chrome in Syria, this progress has been met with wide public support, positive media attention and government encouragement. While sanctions regulations limit direct economic transactions with embargoed entities, recent changes to Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) programs, such as the revisions made on March 8, 2010, provide exemptions for the export of ‘services and software incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet.’ On several occasions since, including the interpretive guidance and favorable licensing policy issued March 20, 2012, President Obama, Secretary Clinton and Congress have reiterated their political and material support for securing the Internet as a mechanism to promote human rights abroad. In spite of these legal allowances, the publics of sanctioned countries continue to be denied access to the basic tools and platforms necessary for communicating safely and securely online. While civil society and governments foster the development of technology to protect Internet users, this continued restriction of access facilitates authoritarian governments in the repression of their citizens’ fundamental freedoms. When users are unable to access content hosting, instant messaging, development tools, antivirus products, Java, Flash or document readers, they are either hindered in their ability to communicate on the Internet in the same way as their peers, or they turn to untrustworthy sources. Blanket restrictions imposed on advertising content and languages severely constrain the ability of external parties to sustain their operations and connect to isolated, at-risk populations. Denied these resources, users are forced to browse and participate on a limited and unsafe Internet, exposed to regime surveillance, censorship and hacking. In the face of such pressing need, we call on you to: 1.     End the unnecessary blocking of services for the public of sanctioned countries; 2.     Apply for export licenses where incidental transactions create potential liability concerns; 3.     Disclose which services are restricted based on location or language, and the reasons for doing so; 4.     Engage with civil society to identify policies and regulations that create impediments to supporting users under political duress. As civil society organizations and individuals concerned with technology access, media freedoms, human rights, and international development, we ask you to end unnecessary and counterproductive restrictions to sanctioned countries, to ensure that at-risk populations have equal access to a free and secure Internet conducive to facilitating social, political and economic growth. Sincerely,

• National Iranian American Council
• Access
• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Center for Rights/Fight for the Future
• Council of the Americas
• Cuba Study Group
• International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
• New America’s Foundation’s Open Internet Tools Project
• New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute
• Syrian American Council
• The Tor Project
• United for Iran
• Witness

TO: National Iranian American Council * Electronic Frontier Foundation * Access * Center for Rights/Fight for the Future * Council of the Americas * Cuba Study Group * International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran * New America’s Open Internet Tools Project * New America’s Open Technology Institute* Syrian American Council * The Tor Project * United for Iran * Witness TO: Mr. Warren Adelman, Chief Executive Officer, Go Daddy Operating Company, LLC. Mr. Joseph Alhadeff, Vice President for Global Public Policy, Oracle Corporation Mr. Bob Boorstin, Director of Corporate and Policy Communication, Google Inc. Mr. Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Apple Inc. Mr. Dave DeWalt, President and Chief Executive Officer, McAfee Inc. Ms. Carol DiBattiste, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Geeknet, Inc. Mr. Jace Johnson, Vice President Government Affairs & Public Policy, Adobe Systems Mr. Lanham Napier, President & Chief Executive Officer, Rackspace, US Inc. Ms. Ebele Okobi. Director Business & Human Rights Program, Yahoo! Inc. Mr. J.R. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, AVG Technologies Ms. Louisa Terrell, Director of Public Policy, Facebook, Inc. CC: Ms. Susan Morgan, Executive Director, Global Network Initiative Attachment: Chart of Denied Services

Chart of Denied Services

Available Software Despite rumors, the following software is available for download.

• Google Chrome, Firefox, GitHub
• Adobe Reader, Flash, Shockwave and AIR
• Dropbox
• Oracle Java, VirtualBox
• Real Player

Reference: https://github.com/collina/Internet-Freedom-Repository/wiki/Sanctions:-Reverse-Filtering-%28%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B9%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%B3-%29