New questions raised about Silicon Valley's ties to terrorist regimes

A report from a Canadian research organization has again raised the uncomfortable question of whether Silicon Valley's technology is being used by so-called terrorist states to repress their citizens.

The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab released a report that focused on Blue Coat Systems and how its technology apparently is still part of Syria's state-sponsored telecommunications networks and is being used in Sudan and Iran. Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria have been labeled by the State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, and are subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls. Trade is restricted to these countries, but not completely illegal. Companies can get limited import-export exemptions. The Citizen Lab report put the spotlight on Blue Coat, but the issue has spread throughout Silicon Valley. With the fastest growing markets overseas, tech companies have turned to a wide variety of local information technology vendors to sell their products. But keeping close tabs on where and how all those vendors sell their products has become difficult. As a result, various federal agencies have been stepping up enforcement in recent years.