I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4301 

To support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people by enhancing 

their ability to access the Internet and communications services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2009 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. INGLIS, and Mr. DELAHUNT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people 

by enhancing their ability to access the Internet and 

communications services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iranian Digital Em5 powerment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Government of Iran is engaged in a 

9 range of activities that interfere with and infringe 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4301 IH

1 upon the right of the Iranian people to access inde2 pendent news and information and to exercise basic 

3 freedoms, in particular through electronic media. 

4 (2) On September 28, 2009, a consortium re5 portedly controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard 

6 Corps purchased a controlling interest in the Iranian 

7 Telecommunications Company. 

8 (3) On November 14, 2009, the Government of 

9 Iran announced the establishment of a special secu10 rity force to police opposition activities on the Inter11 net. 

12 (4) On numerous occasions, including most re13 cently ahead of student demonstrations on December 

14 7, 2009, the Government of Iran has restricted ac15 cess to Internet and telecommunications networks in 

16 order to limit popular dissent. 

17 (5) In the aftermath of the disputed June 2009 

18 Iranian presidential elections, the Iranian people uti19 lized Twitter, Facebook, and other personal commu20 nication technologies to organize demonstrations and 

21 related activities. 

22 (6) Citing the crucial role that Internet commu23 nications technologies were playing in post-election 

24 Iran, the Department of State requested Twitter 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4301 IH

1 delay a planned maintenance so that Iranians could 

2 continue use of the service without interruption. 

3 (7) The United States has a vital interest in 

4 working to ensure that its policies do not uninten5 tionally aid the repressive policies of the Government 

6 of Iran or hinder the Iranian people’s basic rights 

7 and freedoms. 

8 (8) Current sanctions on Iran have had the un9 intended effect of stifling Iranians’ access to the 

10 Internet and related Internet technologies. 

11 (9) Microsoft and Google have ceased providing 

12 instant messaging services to Iranians, citing United 

13 States economic sanctions. 

14 (10) In a September 2009 response regarding 

15 the suspension of messaging services within Iran by 

16 Microsoft and Google, Director of the Department of 

17 the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control 

18 (OFAC), Adam Szubin, stated that, ‘‘Ensuring the 

19 flow and access to information available through the 

20 Internet and similar public sources is consistent with 

21 the policy interests of the United States Govern22 ment.’’. 

23 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

24 Congress that the United States— 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4301 IH

1 (1) respects the sovereignty of the Iranian peo2 ple and the universal values of freedom of speech, 

3 freedom of the press, and the freedom to assemble; 

4 (2) supports the Iranian people seeking access 

5 to news, electronic communication, and other forms 

6 of information; 

7 (3) encourages the development and provision 

8 of technologies and services to the Iranian people 

9 that enable them to communicate with each other 

10 and the outside world; and 

11 (4) encourages companies, organizations, and 

12 individuals to enable large numbers of users to by13 pass censorship and surveillance technologies, for the 

14 purposes of promoting Iranians’ unfettered access to 

15 the Internet, which is a civil liberty that should be 

16 enjoyed by all people. 

17 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPORTS OF CERTAIN SOFT18 WARE AND RELATED SERVICES TO IRAN. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law, the export of software and related serv21 ices described in subsection (b) to Iran by United States 

22 persons may not be prohibited or otherwise restricted. 

23 (b) SOFTWARE AND RELATED SERVICES DE24 SCRIBED.—The software and related services referred to 

25 in subsection (a) are the following: 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4301 IH

1 (1) Software and related services that allow pri2 vate Iranian citizens to circumvent online censorship 

3 and monitoring efforts imposed by the Government 

4 of Iran. 

5 (2) Software and related services that enable 

6 personal communication by the Iranian people. 

7 (c) EXCEPTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 

9 apply with respect to the export of software and re10 lated services described in subsection (b) to the Gov11 ernment of Iran. 

12 (2) DEFINITION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

14 term ‘‘Government of Iran’’ includes the gov15 ernment of any political subdivision of Iran, 

16 and any agency or instrumentality of the Gov17 ernment of Iran. 

18 (B) AGENCY OR INSTRUMENTALITY.—For 

19 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘agen20 cy or instrumentality of the Government of 

21 Iran’’ means an agency of instrumentality of a 

22 foreign state as defined in section 1603(b) of 

23 title 28, United States Code, with each ref24 erence in such section to ‘‘a foreign state’’ 

25 deemed to be a reference to ‘‘Iran’’. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4301 IH

1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

2 respect to the export of software and related services re3 ferred to in subsection (a) on or after the date of the en4 actment of this Act. 

Æ 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS