Electronic Companies Rethink Global Presence

Thursday, May 29, 2003
(2:06 PM)
By Adam Geller
Associated Press Writer

``We think of ourselves as a global rating agency ... but we have to operate in the regulatory framework,'' Frances Laserson, a Moody's spokesman, said. The changing climate has also raised questions about whether sanctions should apply to companies registering Internet domain names for groups like al-Qaida or individuals who appear to be based in sanctioned countries, said Michael Geist, a professor specializing in Internet law at the University of Ottawa.

NEW YORK -- AP
When Farhad Kashani posted his resume on Monster.com, the unemployed executive didn't expect to become entangled in the U.S. government's effort to isolate its political enemies.

The nation's largest Internet job board decided on its own to purge resumes of some references to Iran, Cuba and other countries covered by U.S. trade sanctions. Kashani, of Los Altos, Calif., worried that would mean striking out two university degrees and his first job in Iran.

Though Monster ultimately relaxed its policy following an outcry from some jobseekers, the situation points to a new conundrum: How far must online and information companies go to comply with sanctions?

Kashani said he understands the goal of sanctions and the need to isolate terrorist groups, but the immigrant also remembers well the strict limitations on personal freedoms in Iran.

``I think we're going too far trying to fix the problem,'' he said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Americans and their government have been significantly more wary of doing anything to aid terrorists or countries seen as harboring them. For companies, that means being careful not to conduct or facilitate business with countries and individuals on the government's sanction list.

Importers, exporters, banks and companies dealing in potentially dangerous technology have long kept careful tabs on such sanctions.

Monster and other companies that trade solely in information - and depend on widespread accessibility - are now struggling to try on the sanctions slipper.

It doesn't always fit comfortably.
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Dan