Syria is using computer software made by a company in California to censor the internet and keep a watch on citizens. Syria does not want its citizens protesting against President Bashar al-Assad, which many have been doing via the internet for almost eight months now. The company in California that produces the software is called Blue Coat Systems. The U.S. State Department is said to be taking the use of the software by Syrian government very seriously. The U.S. has sanctions that restrict U.S. companies from trading with Syria, but there are exceptions for some software. If this software is not apart of exceptions it would be violating these sanctions. The spokesman for Blue Coat said, "Blue Coat does not sell to Syria." It is very likely that Syria obtained the software off of the grey market illegally. The use of the software by the Syrian government was discovered by swedish hackers, Telecomix. The group discovered that the government was using the software to prohibit citizens from going onto certain websites and social media.
Blake Sabatke
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syria-using-american-software-to-censor-internet-experts-say/2011/10/22/gIQA5mPr7L_story.html
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