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Surprising Science —

The U.S. & Internet Oppression

The real challenge for Internet freedom? U.S. hypocrisy. And there’s no app for that. Secretary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom didn’t address the U.S. and Internet oppression.
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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.

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