Software

"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)

“According to the OpenNet Initiative, a collaboration of Harvard University, the University of Toronto, the University of Cambridge, and Oxford University, Iran ‘uses the commercial filtering package SmartFilter – made by the U.S.-based company, Secure Computing – as the primary technical engine of its filtering system.’” (CBS News, “Iranians Bypass Net-Censors With High-Tech Tools,” 6/17/09)

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Computer security company McAfee Inc plans to buy Secure Computing Corp for $465 million, adding specialized equipment that keeps hackers from breaking into computer networks. (Reuters, “McAfee to pay $465 million for Secure Computing,” 9/22/08)

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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)