The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is adding the Waterloo, Ont.-headquartered firm to its entity list, requiring U.S. companies selling to it to first obtain licenses. Sandvine did not immediately respond to The Logic’s request for comment. (The Logic)

Talking point: Founded in 2001, the company makes tools for mobile carriers and network operators. In July 2017, private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired Sandvine and merged it with holding Procera Networks in a $562-million deal. The BIS filing cited Sandvine’s sale of technology to the Egyptian government, which uses it for “mass web-monitoring and censorship to block news” as well as to “target political actors and human rights activists.” The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has previously alleged that the firm’s devices were used to send Turkish and Syrian phone users to state-operated spyware, while its technology has reportedly been used for censorship in other countries. The BIS said it will default to denying U.S. firms’ applications to sell to Sandvine.