Week in Review: April 20, 2016

Italy: Ministry of Economic Development Stripped Hacking Team of License to Export Products Outside of the European Union

The Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) has revoked Hacking Team’s license to sell its products outside of the European Union. Hacking Team, a Milan-based information technology company, will still be able to apply for separate licenses to sell outside Europe, but according to Forbes, they will need to be obtained on a “case-by-case basis."  Many digital experts have suspected that the Italian government’s decision to revoke the license might be tied to the recent murder of Giulio Regeni in Egypt; Regeni, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student, was researching Egypt’s independent trade unions, and some believe that Egyptian intelligence officials might have used Hacking Team’s technology to keep abreast of his activities. James Politi and Hannah Kuchler of The Financial Times wrote, “Although there is no evidence that Egypt used Hacking Team technology to keep track of Mr Regeni and Italian officials deny any explicit connection with the loss of the export licence, experts say the killing may have speeded up an effort already under way to keep closer tabs on the company’s sales." Paolo Boccardelli, director of the business school at Luiss University in Rome, added, "Hacking Team was already in the spotlight but my sense is that the media and political pressure of the Regeni case might have accelerated the analysis and the decision-making around it." Eric Rabe, an employee of Hacking Team, responded, “Whether that is the factor behind this decision I don’t know — nobody has confirmed that." In a separate interview, Rabe said, “The global license has been suspended by MISE but Hacking Team still has approvals for all countries within the EU, and the company expects to be given approvals for sales to countries outside the EU as well as needed."

Pakistan: Activists Worry About Latest Cyber-Crime Bill 

Netizens and digital rights groups are concerned that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill is too far-reaching. Privacy International has been particularly critical of the document; in a report, their staff members wrote, “In the context of growing concerns over government surveillance of activists, bloggers, journalists, as well as ordinary internet users and the expanding surveillance capacity of Pakistani authorities, particularly intelligence agencies, the Bill, if adopted in the current form, will further undermine the protection of the right to privacy, freedom of expression and other human rights. As it stands the Bill is also contrary to Pakistan's obligations under international law, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Pakistan is party.” Now that the bill has been approved by Pakistan’s National Assembly, it will continue onwards to the country’s Senate. Wafa Ben-Hassine of the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the bill in a multi-part blog post last year; she asserted that it turned “innocent Internet users into cyber-criminals” and gave “foreign governments…access to everything.” Anusha Rahman, the Minister of State for Information Technology, originally introduced the bill and defended the document in this “Statement of Objects and Reasons." She