U.S. seeks partners to help Internet users evade foreign censors

The Office of Internet Freedom (OIF), part the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, is looking for vendors that have systems and software to counter internet censorship by foreign governments, according to a notice published Sept. 6.

OIF will issue a contract with four main objectives:

1. Provide client software that allows users in target countries “to circumvent the censorship of the internet within their country.”
2. Design and maintain web proxies operated by the contractor that are distributed globally and changed regularly
3. Distribute email newsletters to lists provided by BBG that use a “variety of techniques” to evade censors
4. Produce technical documentation and status reports to support OIF’s internet anti-censorship initiatives

An industry day is planned for Sept. 20 in Washington, D.C., for vendors and the government to exchange information.

BBG, which operates Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti in Cuba, and Middle Eastern Broadcasting Networks, released a statement of work and sample task orders in December 2016, seeking to add more vendors to an existing basic order agreement for anti-censorship tools.

Set-Aside

BBG released a similar request for proposals in March 2015 as a total small-business set-aside. It doesn’t appear that these efforts spurred additional competition.

Only two vendors — Ultrareach Internet Corp. and Washington Software Inc. — of the eight that secured slots on the indefinite-delivery, multiple-award contract in 2011 have won new tasks in the past two years. A total of $24.4 million has been obligated through that MAC, according to Bloomberg Government data.

OIF, which requested $10 million for fiscal 2018, has had its budget slashed from $15 million in fiscal 2016 and will be more focused on technology efforts. The office was formed in 2016 out of the internet anti-censorship division, according to a January 2017 fact sheet, in which it also lists the mobile, desktop, cloud, and other applications in its portfolio.