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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Yahoo Says It Gave China Internet Data |
| 2005-09-11 |
| EFL HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 10 -- A co-founder and senior executive of Yahoo Inc., the global Internet giant, confirmed Saturday that his company gave Chinese authorities information later used to convict a Chinese journalist now imprisoned for leaking state secrets. The journalist, Shi Tao, was sentenced last spring to 10 years in prison for sending foreign-based Web sites a copy of a message from Chinese authorities warning domestic journalists about reporting on sensitive issues, according to a translation of the verdict disseminated by the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders. Speaking at an Internet conference in this eastern Chinese city, Yahoo's co-founder, Jerry Yang, said his company had no choice but to cooperate with the authorities. The Shi Tao case has become particularly high-profile because it involves the imprisonment of a Chinese journalist at a time when the government is cracking down on domestic media that report on topics seen as challenging the state's authority. "We already knew that Yahoo collaborates enthusiastically with the Chinese regime in questions of censorship, and now we know it is a Chinese police informant as well," the watchdog group declared. "Yahoo appears to be willing to go to any lengths to gain shares of the Chinese market." Yang characterized the state's demand for the information and Yahoo's ultimate compliance as "a legal process." The exchange over Yahoo's role in Shi's conviction was barely a footnote to a conference full of triumphant talk about the transformational power of the Internet. The keynote speech was delivered by former president Bill Clinton, who characterized China's Internet entrepreneurs as a progressive force for change in Chinese society. Clinton's trip to China was paid for in part by Alibaba.com, one of China's most successful Web commerce businesses. Yahoo recently purchased a 40 percent stake in the firm. Clinton did not mention the Shi case in his speech. As he was leaving the hall, the former president declined to answer a question about the case before melting into a thicket of Chinese security and Secret Service officers. |
| Posted by:SwissTex |
| #6 I forget which communist leader said that the west would sell them the rope they used to hang us. The reassurances I'm now hearing that "of course they're now in a situation where they'll have to" doesn't make me feel better in the least. Of course Yahoo has to do what it has to; and I'm going to NOT do business with them in the future if I can help it. I kinda-sorta feel it's what I have to do now. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-09-11 23:52 |
| #5 FG: Its also easy for us in the West to refuse to use or invest in Chinese crackdowns. Yahoo, then Google, then MS -0 don't ivest - see where th estock prices go...think they rise under bad PR? They rise or fall based on how much money they make, which in turn depends on whether they comply with the laws of the countries in which they do business. Bloomberg kowtowed to Singapore over some issue related to freedom of the press. Bloomberg is still the most important provider of financial terminals, bar none. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-09-11 23:00 |
| #4 Integrity and Honor are not items that show up on the corporate balance sheet. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-09-11 22:41 |
| #3 Its also easy for us in the West to refuse to use or invest in Chinese crackdowns. Yahoo, then Google, then MS -0 don't ivest - see where th estock prices go...think they rise under bad PR? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-09-11 22:34 |
| #2 If you want to do business in China, you have to follow Chinese laws. It's easy for people who don't have any skin in the game to say that Yahoo should defy the Chinese government. After investing billions of dollars in setting up infrastructure and buying Chinese companies, Yahoo can't just walk away from the Chinese market. It's that simple. The fact is that Yahoo could no more defy a Chinese government request for information than it could defy a Congressional subpoena for information. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-09-11 22:08 |
| #1 Ve vere just followink orders! |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-09-11 22:07 |