Yahoo defends its giving info on political dissidents to Chinese government

[terisan]

Multinational Yahoo argues it has no choice but to obey Chinese government law and turn over its own Chinese subsidiaries records on Chinese citizens to government


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/yahoo-says-followed-chinese-law/story.aspx?guid=%7B46315423%2DD059%2D4814%2DBEFD%2DA77B92140881%7D

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) --- Yahoo Inc. said Monday that its Chinese subsidiary had no choice but to follow local laws when it handed over private information about political dissidents that led to their imprisonment and torture and that lawsuit should be dismissed so as to not damage US-China relations.

In April, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in California on behalf of Chinese dissident Wang Xiaoning and his wife Yu Ling, alleging that Yahoo gave private information about Wang to Chinese authorities that led to his detention. Jailed Chinese Journalist Shi Tao was added as a plaintiff in May......


Yahoo argued Monday that Wang and Shi should have realized they were putting themselves in harm's way.
"They assumed the risk of harm when they chose to use Yahoo China email and group list services to engage in activity they knew violated Chinese law," Yahoo said in the filing.........

Yahoo warned that filing the lawsuit in California "might well be viewed as a profound rebuke" of the Chinese government, "and risk poisoning U.S. relations with a significant world power."
"Free speech rights as we understand them in the United States are not the law in China," Yahoo said, "Every sovereign nation has a right to regulate speech within its borders."

[MADem]

1. Doesn't Google do the same thing? I gotta laugh at the way they

obliquely threaten the plaintiffs--like it's THEIR fault that their lawsuit might HURT China's FEELINGS.

Who the fuck do Yahoo think they're kidding? They're profiteers, who put cash before human rights. Tell it like it is....

[terisan]

4. Yes their concern about US/China relations was touching-but sure makes US seem weak. nt

[gratuitous]

2. Nations do indeed have the right to make their own laws

I didn't realize that Yahoo was deputized as a law enforcement arm of a government that Yahoo knew or should have known would imprison and torture people who . . . apparently speak out against groundless imprisonment and torture. But there's a buck to be made, so if some slanty-eyed malcontent gets his nuts in a vise (literally), well, that's not really Yahoo's problem, is it?

[Odin2005]

3. What is the moral thing to do comes before what is the legal or profitable to do.

Shame on Yahoo.

[terisan]

5. I am thinking that morally I should drop my Yahoo email account. nt

[MethuenProgressive]

6. All DUers using Yahoo should drop the service NOW

[Romulox]

8. Google (who appears to be a DU sponsor, btw...) is just as bad nt

[MethuenProgressive]

7. “The firms also committed to delete any ‘illegal or bad messages,’

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13157

Yahoo, MSN, kowtow to China
p2pnet news view | Freedom:- Yahoo China and MSN China have signed a code of conduct which commits them to looking after the interests of China, including acting as state censors.