More evidence tips up against Cisco in China repression

NETWORKING HARDWARE GIANT Cisco faces fresh evidence that it assisted the glorious People's Republic of China in tracking down Chinese citizens it arrested and tortured.

The firm had already been accused of aiding the Chinese Government, specifically in the building of the Great Firewall of China, and in smaller projects such as building CCTV networks, but fresh evidence has appeared.

According to V3.co.uk, the Human Rights Law Foundation has proof that Cisco tailored its networking software so that it could be used to track down people. Reportedly evidence suggests that the company knew of Chinese government plans and in effect supported them.

Cisco has denied this, and said that it had only sold its standard technology in China, but the Human Rights Law Foundation believes that its evidence will prove otherwise. Its allegations include the charge that Cisco trained Chinese surveillance technicians on tracking internet users.

Cisco also faces pressure from the Electronic Frontier Foundation over its actions in China and in August that group told it to stop aiding the erosion of human rights.

"Reports indicate that Cisco has also customized its technology to help China with surveillance of political activists," wrote the EFF's Jillian York. "We've had our eye on Cisco for years; in 2010, they were at the top of our list of 'companies of interest' selling surveillance technologies to repressive regimes." µ