DailyTech - Lawmaker Claims IBM Aided Holocaust, Google Not Far Off Path

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IT Lawmaker Claims IBM Aided Holocaust, Google Not Far Off Path
Nirav Sanghani (Blog) - March 21, 2008 5:18 PM

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166 comment(s) - last by Smiting Eye.. on Apr 10 at 8:32 PM

IBM's "Hollerith" machine found in museum in Germany. It is similar to the ones said to be used by Nazi officials during the Holocaust. (Source: The Sydney Morning Herald)

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) claims Google and other IT companies block politically sensitive information in "repressive" countries, relates it to IBM aiding the Holocaust

Dot-coms mix with politics just about as well as oil does with water. American internet companies were placed under the microscope this week for involvement with countries that do not hold up human rights standards.

During what started as a relatively routine hearing on Museum of the History of Polish Jews, House Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) took the opportunity to berate IBM for its involvement in selling and programming equipment to Nazi officials leading up to and during World War II.

"Did you ever wonder why the Gestapo always had all of those very well-laid-out prints of where the Jews lived, because IBM made it happen," he said. He continued to discuss the finer points of his bill, the Global Online Freedom Act.

Smith made it a point to limit and impose standards on corporations doing business in countries like China and Saudi Arabia. Instead of IBM, he alleges Google, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Microsoft release personally identifiable information about internet users to repressive governments.

“History shows that U.S. companies have at times in the past provided the technology to crush human rights. For instance, IBM were good soldiers with the Gestapo. Now, U.S. companies, that originally thought they were helping bring freedom have found themselves — wittingly or unwittingly — part of a regime,” Smith said during committee consideration of his legislation.

The bill authoring started with the arrest of Shi Toa, a Chinese journalist arrested after authorities in China acquired personally identifiable information with the supposed help of Yahoo. Smith cites and emphasizes these incidents to build ammunition to propel his Global Online Freedom Act.

“Shi Tao is unjustly serving time in prison as a result of information Yahoo provided to Chinese authorities. Moreover, Yahoo officials who came before my committee — during a hearing I chaired — in sworn testimony said they knew nothing ‘about the nature of the investigation’ into Shi Tao. The Global Online Freedom Act will prohibit U.S. technology companies from cooperating with repressive regimes so that others do not meet Shi Tao’s fate,” claimed Smith.

Smith charges that these corporations not only aided “repressive” regimes, but did all they could to cover up business dealings in order to continue their business in these countries. He demands that Congress pass the act so that American IT companies cannot commit these “shameful” acts.

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Par for the course

By themadmilkman on 3/21/2008 5:59:55 PM , Rating: 4

Just another 2-bit politician trying to get camera time so he can get reelected.

RE: Par for the course

By jadeskye on 3/21/08, Rating: -1

RE: Par for the course

By eye smite on 3/21/08, Rating: -1

RE: Par for the course

By bupkus on 3/21/08, Rating: 0

RE: Par for the course

By rudy on 3/22/2008 3:42:43 AM , Rating: 2

No clearly it came from IBM

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RE: Par for the course

By paydirt on 3/24/2008 9:26:43 AM , Rating: 3

Do corporations have freedoms too? Repressing the freedoms of corporations to answer to governments (including the U.S.) is still a repression of freedom--just the freedom of corporations instead of the freedom of individuals.

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RE: Par for the course

By Ryanman on 3/22/2008 2:33:48 PM , Rating: 5

no he's not saying that. Don't be an idiot.
He's saying that in HITLER'S mind there were justifications. Any reasonable human knows that killing 6 million people is beyond all rationalization.
You're taking advantage of an off-color comment to get uprated and I think it's kind of gross.

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RE: Par for the course

By Duwelon on 3/21/2008 6:42:14 PM , Rating: 1

You can't agree that someone is a "bad man" and then point out that he may have been justified. He was either bad (and did things that were unjustified or unjustifiable) or he was good in killing all the jews.

In other words, it sounds like your just trying to make a point in defense of Hitler while at the same trying to agree he was bad.

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RE: Par for the course

By Alexstarfire on 3/21/08, Rating: 0

RE: Par for the course

By Duwelon on 3/21/2008 10:00:00 PM , Rating: 1

Millions of people all across Europe lay dead. Fatherless, Motherless, Childless. All their property up in a flash of a german Bomb. Other countries had their economies ruined and their citizens lives in shambles. Their currency devalued as their GDP dropped like a rock. Their lives turned to hell as the depression of War must have sunk in.

But hey, Germany did gain some things out of all that for awhile, with them inflicting all the above on the rest of europe.

You have a gift for looking on the bright side.

I've just said a prayer for you.

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RE: Par for the course

By eye smite on 3/21/08, Rating: -1

RE: Par for the course

By sh3rules on 3/21/2008 10:34:05 PM , Rating: 3

It’s interesting that we survived the Red Scare without becoming a police state (in the sense of 1984). We’re going in that direction again, but we’re not there yet.

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RE: Par for the course

By eye smite on 3/22/08, Rating: -1

By eye smite on 3/22/2008 10:26:11 AM , Rating: -1

I think you're all totally missing the point. My original question was have any of you stopped to consider the motivations behind Hitler becoming what he did. I never stated it was justified in fact I stated the obvious that it was not. In order to learn from history though and not repeat the same mistakes that are being repeated today you have to look at all aspects of that conflict to see just what happened. Stalin was as bad a man as Hitler was, and oh wow, they both had similar childhoods. That should be a clue right there, but that again is not the only reason for what happened, it just set the stage. I love the fact that someone keeps rating me down through their own ignorance and isn't willing to research this themselves. Lets just all be emotional, jump to conclusions and argue like basic primates shall we? As far as the article your perception issues are astounding. That Congressman is not blaming IBM for the holocaust. He is saying their otherwise seemingly innocent actions in the name of turning a dollar aided the nazi effort. I'm really rather certain that if the execs at IBM realized how their equipment was being used, they wouldn't have sold it to the Nazi's as companies still had morals and ethics to some degree during that time. What that Congressman is saying is that Yahoo cooperating with a country that is known to supress and restrict human rights is bound to result in needless persecution of individuals like the man in his rant that he cited. So, in conclusion looking back at the posts, we can see you all jump to totally wrong conclusions based on emotion with no logic involved what so ever. That makes you a base and vile animal, as they react or act on instinct/emotion, not logic. Enjoy being The Human Animal and search that on google and read up on why you act like animals instead of humans. I have cited that book a number of times and predictably none of you animals have taken the time to read up on that either. Please keep rating me down though, it certainly proves my point.

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RE: Par for the course

By psaus on 3/22/08, Rating: -1

RE: Par for the course

By Ryanman on 3/22/2008 2:37:39 PM , Rating: 2

by saying you'll rate him up, you will get rated down.

Hitler did the same things FDR did except he did it with bigotry, hate, and scapegoating. Nobody here is denying that he's an evil man and stands to be one of the worst in humankind's history. Stop acting like the posts above me are trying to put Hitler on a pedestal.

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RE: Par for the course

By eye smite on 3/22/08, Rating: 0

RE: Par for the course

By TerranMagistrate on 3/21/2008 10:36:58 PM , Rating: 2

He didn't meaning "Jews" once in his reply. It's clear he meant human genocide. It's not wise to go off assuming in an attempt to support your warped personal views...

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RE: Par for the course

By GodisanAtheist on 3/22/2008 12:14:46 AM , Rating: 1

Try 30 Million Russians. For a sense of scale for the "ostfront", more Russians died during the 900 day siege of Leningrad than all other allied loses combined.

Hitler also killed 12 million in the holocaust, of which 6 million were Jews (the rest being mentally disabled, gypsies, political prisoners, homosexuals etc...). Jews constituted the largest denomination in death camps, which is why they get so much attention.

Jews have "marketed" the holocaust almost too expertly, however, so as when they legitimately defend their country from aggression and blow up civilians, they get intense amounts of political flak.

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