UANI

"Stockholm-based Ericsson AB, Creativity Software Ltd. of the U.K. and Dublin-based AdaptiveMobile Security Ltd. marketed or provided gear over the past two years that Iran's law enforcement or state security agencies would have access to, according to more than 100 documents and interviews with more than two dozen technicians and managers who worked on the systems... AdaptiveMobile, backed by the investment arm of Intel Corp. (INTC), proposed a system in partnership with Ericsson for Iran’s largest mobile provider in 2010 that would filter, block and store cell phone text messages, according to two people familiar with the discussions. An Ericsson spokesman confirmed the proposal... AdaptiveMobile says its technologies are for fighting spam, viruses and 'inappropriate content,' not designed or sold for law enforcement. It says it plans to cease doing business in Iran when its contract is up in late 2012, because continuing in Iran’s current political climate could damage its reputation... Ericsson, which bid on the system, was told by MCI, the country’s largest wireless operator, to partner with AdaptiveMobile for monitoring and filtering technology, according to Ericsson spokesman Fredrik Hallstan. Ericsson didn’t win the contract, he says... The 3.9 million-euro ($5.5 million) system AdaptiveMobile proposed could handle more than 10,000 messages per second and archive them for a period of 180 days, according to a company proposal. The archive would contain 54 terabytes of storage, according to the document. That’s big enough for all the data gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope over 20 years... In 2008, AdaptiveMobile sold Irancell technology to filter, block and store text messages. Text message monitoring was required by security forces, who use the technology for their own purposes, according to two former Irancell managers... An Adaptive document detailed the system requirements. It would analyze all messages in English, Persian or Arabic for keywords or phrases; store them; and flag those caught by filters for review... Two former Adaptive employees say there were discussions within the company about law enforcement requests as the project came together... While Adaptive’s executives confirm the Irancell deal and an upgrade to the system to handle more messages, they say it was intended only for commercial purposes. They deny any involvement with Iran security or police... 'We are sure our product is not being used in this way,' says AdaptiveMobile CEO Brian Collins... Asked if AdaptiveMobile’s systems could scour for political content on activists, Chief Operating Officer Gareth Maclachlan said, 'Technically, yes, it is possible.' He says he doubted they would be practical for that purpose... As recently as 2010, AdaptiveMobile attempted to sell a similar product to MCI, the one on which it partnered with Ericsson. Collins and Maclachlan say they were not familiar with details of the proposal... Intel Capital, the investment arm of the world’s largest chipmaker, has invested 6 million euros in AdaptiveMobile, which was founded in 2003. Kristof Sehmke, an Intel Capital spokesman, said in a statement that his company strives to comply with all legal requirements... According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Ericsson signed at least 27 contracts worth $5.25 million with the U.S. government from the start of 2009 to the end of 2010. The data showed no U.S. government business with AdaptiveMobile or Creativity Software." (Bloomberg, "Iranian Police Seizing Dissidents Get Aid of Western Companies" 10/30/2011)

"In the House of Lords today, David Alton asked why the sale of such software to Iran is allowed; what the government makes of democracy activists who say it has been used against them; and asked for an accounting of sales to Iran of such gear by Creativity Software Ltd., a British technology company which has had links to Foreign Secretary William Hague... He asked if the government intends 'to permit Creativity Software to continue providing British-made intercept software and equipment to Irancell.'... Creativity Software this year sold a system that enables Iranian law enforcement and security forces to monitor cell phone locations, Bloomberg News reported on Oct. 31 citing three people familiar with the transaction... For that article, Creativity Software confirmed that it counts mobile-phone operator MTN Irancell Telecommunications Services Co. as a client but declined to discuss sales of any location-tracking gear for law enforcement purposes, saying it would breach contract confidentiality. The company didn’t immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment today... Separately, Alton said Hague should answer questions over his link to Creativity Software, based in Kingston upon Thames... Before being named foreign secretary, Hague received money from Bruce Macfarlane and Alan Morgan, the managing partner and chairman of MMC Ventures Ltd., to pay for a researcher, according to filings with the House of Commons. MMC Ventures has a stake in Creativity Software... 'MMC Ventures is a minority investor in Creativity Software and as such it would be completely inappropriate for us to comment on the day-to-day running of the company, including the individual contracts that they have, not least for reasons of confidentiality,' the company said in an e-mailed statement."(Bloomberg, "U.K. Urged to Ban Sale to Iran of Software Used to Crush Dissent," 11/8/2011)

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"Stockholm-based Ericsson AB, Creativity Software Ltd., of the U.K. and Dublin-based AdaptiveMobile Security Ltd. marketed or provided gear over the past two years that Iran's law enforcement or state security agencies would have access to, according to more than 100 documents and interviews with more than two dozen technicians and managers who worked on the systems... Ericsson and Creativity Software offered technology expressly for law enforcement use -- including a location- monitoring product proposed by Ericsson in early 2009 and one sold this year by Creativity, according to the interviews... Early this year, Creativity Software sold a system that enables Iranian law enforcement and security forces to monitor cell phone locations, according to three people familiar with the transaction. With it, police can track a target’s movements every 15 seconds and plot the locations on a map, according to a 19-page company product specification document. Creativity Software confirms that Irancell is a client, but declined to discuss sales of any location-tracking gear for law enforcement purposes, saying it would breach contract confidentiality... Creativity Software, based southwest of London in Kingston upon Thames, announced a deal in August 2009 to sell Irancell commercial customer location services... Early this year, it sold the mobile phone provider a second system that allows law enforcement to locate and track targets, according to three people familiar with the transaction... The system can record a person’s location every 15 seconds -- eight times more frequently than a similar system the company sold in Yemen, according to company documents. A tool called 'geofences' triggers an alarm when two targets come in close proximity to each other. The system also stores the data and can generate reports of a person’s movements. A former Creativity Software manager said the Iran system was far more sophisticated than any other systems the company had sold in the Middle East... Creativity Software held initial conversations with MCI early this year to provide a nearly identical system, according to two former Creativity managers, though the status of those talks is unclear... Employees at Creativity Software were concerned about selling the technology to Iran, says Venu Gokaram, who worked as a test manager for the company until early this year... Creativity Software, which is privately-held and partly funded by London-based venture capital firm MMC Ventures, announced last November that it had made four sales in six months in the Middle East for law enforcement purposes without identifying the mobile operator clients... Saul Olivares, market development director at Creativity Software, declined to discuss sales of law enforcement technology, but in an e-mail he pointed to its practical benefits, such as locating individuals during disasters, for ambulance crews and in other emergencies... Jon Coker, investment director at MMC Ventures and a board member at Creativity Software, declined to comment... According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Ericsson signed at least 27 contracts worth $5.25 million with the U.S. government from the start of 2009 to the end of 2010. The data showed no U.S. government business with AdaptiveMobile or Creativity Software." (Bloomberg, "Iranian Police Seizing Dissidents Get Aid of Western Companies," 10/31/2011)

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"The same month the Chinese embassy posted the article, Creativity Software, a British company that specializes in 'location-based services,' announced it had won a contract to supply a system to MTN Irancell. 'Creativity Software has worked in partnership with Huawei, where they will provide first and second level support to the operator,' the company said... The announcement said the system would enable "Home Zone Billing"—which encourages people to use their cellphones at home (and give up their land lines) by offering low rates—as well as other consumer and business applications that track user locations. In a description of the service, Creativity Software says its technology also enables mobile-phone operators to 'comply with lawful-intercept government legislation,' which gives police access to communications and location information... A former telecommunications engineer at MTN Irancell said the company grew more interested in location-based services during the antigovernment protests. He said a team from the government's telecom-monitoring center routinely visited the operator to verify the government had access to people's location data. The engineer said location tracking has expanded greatly since the system first was installed... An official with Creativity Software confirmed that MTN Irancell is a customer and said the company couldn't comment because of 'contractual confidentiality.'" (The Wall Street Journal, "Chinese Tech Giant Aids Iran," 10/27/2011)

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In a press release published on its website, Creativity announced it had been selected by Irancell to provide 'end-to-end' LBS solutions and be the second largest operator in Iran with LBS infrastucture. (Creativity Software website)

"A Slovakia-based computer-security firm could face a U.S. investigation for sanctions violations after its anti-virus products were downloaded in Iran in an apparent attempt to secure the country's networks against the cyberworm that attacked Tehran's nuclear program. A former employee said he showed executives at ESET's San Diego offices evidence in December that their software was being downloaded and installed on tens of thousands of computers in Iran. 'It was being downloaded at a tremendous rate,' Charles Jeter told The Washington Times. 'Traffic to ESET's website [from Iran] was five times the level it was to any of our competitors ... and we were getting more traffic from Tehran than from New York and Los Angeles combined,' Mr. Jeter said, citing an analysis of last year's Internet traffic he had conducted for ESET." (The Washington Times, "Computer firm faces scrutiny over Iran downloads", 8/25/2011)

Wincor Nixdorf, according to its website, is one of the world’s leading providers of IT solutions and services to retailers and retail banks.  Their IT solutions "help boost process efficiency in banking and retail industries High levels of availability and quality Solutions for cost-efficient operation of IT systems Banking."

The company has subsidiaries in over 41 countries and has an overall market presence in over 100 countries. (Company Website)

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Wincor Nixdorf is listed on the website of Iranian company Informatics Services Corporation (ICS) as a business partner (ICS Company Website).  Likewise, WN lists ICS as one of its banking partners on its own website.  (Company Website) 

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The company's policy on "Social Corporate Responsibiliy" is as follows:

“Success …depends on…achieving a balance between economic, environmental and social objectives – one that is indispensable if we wish to enjoy the confidence of the public over the long term.”  The policy also cites three key values: Caring for the environment, Focus on people, and Social responsibility.  (Company Website)

In a correspondance with the SEC in 2009, Logitech International disclosed details of their business in Iran.

"The software and services that were downloaded or used by persons in Iran allow users to have access to: (1) streaming media hardware products to access Internet radio stations and stream their digital audio files from their personal computer to the product; (2) web cameras (or, in certain cases, those of other manufacturers) to initiate or receive video calls from personal computers; and (3) universal remote control products to select, from a database, the audio-visual devices used by the user, to download the infrared or radio-frequency codes associated with the remote controls for such devices, and to choose the order in which the devices are turned on or off, according to the user’s preferences." (CORRESP for LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA, 10/2/2009)

SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): Software produced by American companies such as FortNet and Secure Computing has repeatedly been used to censor the Internet in Burma and Iran respectively. 

Secure Computing refused to provide me with a list of the governments that use its filters. However, the OpenNet Initiative, a partnership between the University of Toronto, Cambridge University and Harvard Law School, has compiled data on how such products are used in foreign nations where censorship is easy because the governments control all Internet service providers.

The initiative found that SmartFilter has been used by government-controlled monopoly providers in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. It has also been used by state-controlled providers in Iran, even though American companies are banned from selling technology products there. (Secure Computing denies selling products or updates to Iran, which is probably using pirated versions.) According to OpenNet, filtering products from another American company, Websense, have also been used by a state-controlled service provider in Iran. 

(Federal News Service, HEARING OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAW OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, May 20, 2008)