Cisco, China and Freedom

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jim Thompson <jim () netgate com>
Date: July 24, 2005 4:51:10 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: rmackinnon () cyber law harvard edu
Subject: Cisco, China and Freedom


Dave,

Rebecca MacKinnon <rmackinnon () cyber law harvard edu>, who was bureau  
chief and correspondent for CNN in China and Japan until
the end of 2003, has a blog where she and others are leveling  
accusations at Cisco about it support of the police state in China  
and elsewhere.

http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2005/07/ 
my_conversation.html

A suggested pull quote:

Cisco argues that if they don't do this business, their competitors  
will. And that will be bad for U.S.  jobs.  Well, as I've said  
before, at the end of the day either we believe that the ideals of  
"freedom" and "democracy" mean something, and are worth sacrificing  
short-term profit so that more people around the world have a chance  
of benefiting from them, or we don't. Cisco clearly doesn't. This is  
an insult to the thousands of Americans - public servants, men and  
women in uniform, journalists and others - who risk their lives daily  
in far-flung corners of the globe for the sake of these ideals. Such  
business behavior cheapens and sullies these sacrifices, making  
Americans look like total hypocrites in the eyes of people around the  
world.

--

With the recent on-list discussions about "random" searches in NYC  
and elsewhere, its important to remember that, if what Cisco is saying
is the truth, we are a mere flick of a software switch away from  
enabling "a police state" in the US (if it exists yet or not) from  
peering into our online lives.    Ms. MacKinnon is undoubtedly  
correct that Cisco's actions and attitude sullies the reputation of  
all U.S. citizens, world-wide.

Cisco, by their actions and attitude are a threat to freedom and  
democracy everywhere.

For IP, if you wish,

jim







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