With heightened international pressure facing Iran, some lawmakers are hoping to advance legislation that would crack down on foreign technology firms that do business there. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., introduced identical bills in late July that would punish companies selling equipment to aid the Iranian government in monitoring or blocking Internet and cellular phone communications. In particular, the bills would ban such firms from applying for U.S. government contracts or renewing expiring ones unless their ties with Iran were severed.
Electronics giant Siemens, for example, has thousands of federal contracts worth more than $250 million in 2009, and a joint venture with Nokia holds about $5 million worth of U.S. government contracts, Schumer's office said. Both have been implicated in Tehran's efforts to spy on its citizens and stifle communications, especially after the country's post-election unrest. Officials involved in the Siemens-Nokia joint venture have denied any wrongdoing. Nokia Siemens Networks Head of Corporate Affairs Robert Weisberg told Tech Daily Dose Monday afternoon that his firm has a stringent code of conduct and its work in Iran and other countries is done with an eye toward export control requirements and international human rights conventions. He added that the presence of companies like his are "a good thing" in Iran and have helped the world learn more about what is going on inside the country than ever before.
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