The Unintended Consequences of U.S. Export Restrictions on Software and Online Services for American Foreign Policy and Human Rights

摘要

The development of new technological means of communication, organization, and information exchange has been a great boon to pro-democracy dissidents, human rights activists, and ordinary citizens around the globe. But by maintaining comprehensive trade sanctions programs, the U.S. government has withheld these technologies fromrnthose who need them the most, often frustrating its own foreign policy goals in the process. Recent government action in the wake of elections protests in Iran, however, offers some hope. Given the concrete example of U.S. software and services helping citizens in a sanctioned country protest the abuse of their civil, political, and human rights, the U.S. government has acknowledged the pernicious effects of the current trade sanctions regulations affecting ICT. Encouragingly, it has implemented reforms that would benefit citizens and activists in Iran, Sudan, and Cuba.