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The company saw U.S. export restrictions similarly relaxed inJanuary last year to allow it to offer downloads of these productsin Iran. As a condition of its export licenses from the TreasuryDepartment, Google had to block IP addresses associated with theIranian government. In February this year it said it also made Chrome extensionsavailable for download in Iran. "Free expression is a fundamental human right and a core value ofour company--but sometimes there are limits to where we can makeour products and services available," Google's export complianceprograms manager, Neil Martin, said in a blog post on Wednesday. "U.S. export controls and sanctions programs, forexample, prohibit us from offering certain software downloads insome countries". Google for example saw an opportunity missed in Iran when thecontrols prevented Internet companies from offering softwaredownloads in Iran during the protests after a disputed presidentialelection in 2009, when sharing of information over the Internetprevailed. The relaxation of the export controls on the three Google productscomes as Syrian pro-democracy protesters are increasingly underattack both on the ground and in cyberspace. Starting with a complete block of the Internet in June last year,the Syrian government later started slowing down or suspendingInternet service to prevent people from sending and receiving videofootage of demonstrations, on critical protest days like Fridays orin localities where there are protests, according to ReportersWithout Borders. The government's cyber-army tracks dissidents on online socialnetworks using techniques like phishing and man-in-the-middlemethods, and web pages that support the demonstrations were floodedwith messages supporting the regime, Reporters Without Borders saidin March, while rating Syria as an "enemy of the Internet." Twitter, Facebook, and Google's YouTube have played a significantrole in many protest movements. "As a U.S. company, we remain committed to full compliance withU.S. export controls and sanctions," Google said. "We remainequally committed to continue exploring how we can help more peoplearound the globe use technology to communicate, find and createinformation," it added. John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breakingnews from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro . John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China LED Module , SMD RGB LED Strip Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits LED Panel Light.
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