Quote :

" Yahoo accused in jailing of 2nd China Internet user Feb 9, 2:05 AM (ET) By Lindsay Beck BEIJING (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. provided evidence to Chinese authorities that led to the imprisonment of an Internet writer, lawyers and activists said on Thursday, the second such case involving the U.S. Internet giant. The latest storm over Western Internet companies in China comes just weeks after Web search giant Google Inc. came under fire for saying it would block politically sensitive terms on its new China site, bowing to conditions set by Beijing. Writer and veteran activist Liu Xiaobo said Yahoo had co-operated with Chinese police in a case that led to the 2003 arrest of Li Zhi, who was charged with subverting state power and sentenced to eight years in prison after trying to join the dissident China Democracy Party. Yahoo gave public security agents details of Li's registration as a Yahoo user, Liu said in an article posted on U.S.-based Chinese-language news portal Boxun, citing a defense statement from Li's lawyers. A spokeswoman for Yahoo said the company was looking into the matter. "As in most jurisdictions, governments are not required to inform service providers why they are seeking certain information and typically do not do so," spokeswoman Mary Osako said. "We would not know whether a demand for information focused on murder, kidnapping or another crime," she said by phone from California, adding Yahoo thought the Internet was a positive force in China. But media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the argument that Yahoo simply responds to requests from authorities did not hold water. "Yahoo certainly knew it was helping to arrest political dissidents and journalists, not just ordinary criminals," it said in a statement. PROFITS AND PRINCIPLES The group, along with the Committee to Protect Journalists, also called on Yahoo to disclose information on all Internet journalists and writers whose identities it has revealed to Chinese authorities. The case is the latest in a string of examples that highlight the friction between profits and principles for Internet companies doing business in China, the world's number-two Internet market. In September, Yahoo was accused of helping Chinese authorities identify Shi Tao, who was sentenced last April to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets abroad. Yahoo defended itself at the time, saying it had to abide by local laws. In December, Microsoft shut down a blog at MSN Spaces belonging to outspoken blogger Michael Anti under Chinese government orders. The government has also been pressuring mainstream Internet news Web sites in what analysts say is a tightening of the atmosphere for intellectuals. A notice issued by the Beijing Internet Propaganda Management Office earlier this week listed media sites it said were reprinting information that went beyond what was lawful. "At present, do not use what they report on political news; especially do not use them for frontpage news on the Internet," the notice warned. Its list included the Web sites of adventurous newspapers like Guangdong-based Southern Metropolis News, but also the International Herald Leader, which belongs to the state news agency Xinhua, and regional dailies such as the Lanzhou Morning News. Print editions have also been targeted. Chen Jieren, the chief editor of the Beijing-based Public Interest Times, was sacked on Wednesday over a report criticizing authorities, the South China Morning Post said. The case follows the dismissals of the editor of the outspoken Beijing News and the closure of Freezing Point, the weekly supplement of the China Youth Daily known for its critical commentaries and investigative reporting. (Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Hong Kong and Guo Shipeng in Beijing) "

This is just sad... too bad I like using Yahoo sports groups though.
Anyone know if the U.S. government has any say in this?

[Edited on February 9, 2006 at 10:05 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on February 9, 2006 at 10:06 AM. Reason : .]

2/9/2006 10:04:58 AM

and google is so bad for filtering their searches

2/9/2006 10:16:07 AM

they are there to make money, not spread democracy

2/9/2006 10:22:17 AM

^^

2/9/2006 10:41:25 AM

plain awful.

2/9/2006 11:37:18 AM

OMG CHINA IS EVIL

HAY U GUYS LET'S GO TO WAL MART FOR BRAND NAME PRODUCTS AT LOW LOW PRICES

2/9/2006 11:38:23 AM

omg china is sooooo great. Let them spy on everyone and torture political dissidents that's what we should do too. Hey everyone, now lets go bash Bush for wiretapping terrorist.

2/9/2006 1:07:51 PM

personally i think that we should start dwelling in another country's business again
i dont think we do it enough

2/9/2006 1:13:35 PM

yeah, it would be nice if Hitler had finished his conquest. I agree, we shouldn't have dwelt in Europe's business. I mean, we all know isolationism really works.

2/9/2006 1:22:41 PM

no one has attacked switzerland

2/9/2006 1:32:23 PM

Bringing up Hitler in foreign policy talks should be punishable by death or, at the very least, public ridicule.

2/9/2006 1:33:59 PM

i just left it alone
i figured everyone could see how stupid that post was without saying anything

2/9/2006 1:35:33 PM

so how is China better than Cuba again?

2/9/2006 1:37:01 PM

a lot of ways

2/9/2006 1:38:07 PM

^^^your post was utter nonsense. And your reply was even stupider than your initial comment.
Bringing up Hitler made a point. We experimented in isolationism before. Japan, also, was trying to be isolationist unitl they met the mighty imperialist.

^^China better than Cuba? Your answer to that is "a lot of ways".
Clearly I am wasting my time quibbling with you.

[Edited on February 9, 2006 at 4:43 PM. Reason : .]

2/9/2006 4:42:55 PM

JonHGuth isn't exactly the most intelligent. He is a dilletente who thinks he is smart enough to troll. Just ignore him.

2/9/2006 4:49:02 PM

^^^^More people + cheaper labor = More $

[Edited on February 9, 2006 at 4:50 PM. Reason : .]

2/9/2006 4:50:12 PM

so nutsmacker you are saying china is as bad as cuba?

ahahahaha

2/9/2006 5:59:43 PM