Giving In to Chinese Censorship

[Fauxmage]

House: Internet Companies Give in to China


By FOSTER KLUG (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 01, 2006 10:38 PM EST
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers on Wednesday accused U.S.-based Internet companies of giving in to pressure from China and helping to censor Web users in violation of American principles of free speech.
They also criticized the four companies - Microsoft Corp., Yahoo! Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Google Inc. - for failing to attend a congressional briefing that was staged to bring to light how Internet companies do business in China.
Microsoft and Yahoo! issued a joint statement made available saying that, by themselves, they lack the leverage to influence world governments. The statement suggested the four companies could work together with governments to better protect the interests of all Internet services.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, said, "There has been a string of disturbing incidents in which U.S.-based Internet companies have bowed to pressure from Beijing."
He said that instead of using their considerable resources to develop new technologies to bypass government gatekeepers, the Internet companies have agreed to guard the gates themselves.
Google provoked criticism last week by launching a new search engine in China that will censor some results to comply with the country's free-speech restrictions.
Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group, said it had proved that Yahoo! helped the Chinese police identify and convict Shi Tao, a journalist who criticized human rights abuses in China.
Lantos, top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said: "These massively successful high-tech companies, which couldn't bring themselves to send representatives to this meeting today, should be ashamed. They caved in to Beijing for the sake of profits."
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said American companies will continue to expand in the Chinese market, "but they should not let profits take precedence over traditional democratic values such as freedom of speech."
Although Beijing has supported Internet use for education and business, it fiercely polices content. Filters block objectionable foreign Web sites, and regulations ban what the Chinese consider subversive and pornographic content and require service providers to enforce censorship.
Foreign companies have adopted Chinese standards, saying they must obey local laws.
In their statement, Microsoft and Yahoo! said they wanted to assure lawmakers and the public "that we do not consider the Internet situation in China to be one of `business as usual.'"
Carolyn Bartholomew, acting chairwoman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review, a congressionally mandated monitoring group, said China has begun to assume the role of technological leader among the developing nations in its region.
"China serves as the regional Internet provider for surrounding oppressive regimes, including North Korea and Uzbekistan," she said. "Through this role as Internet gatekeeper China exports its filtering technologies to other governments that may choose to employ them."
While attendance at Wednesday's briefing was not mandatory, companies could be compelled with subpoenas to attend a Feb. 15 hearing on the issue, said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of the House International Relations subcommittee on global human rights.
In an interview, the lawmaker criticized U.S. Internet companies, saying they were helping China arrest and torture activists and screen information from its citizens.
"This is not benign or neutral," Smith said of companies acceding to China's demands. "They have an obligation not to be promoting dictatorship."
Microsoft, Cisco, Google and Yahoo! all said they planned to attend the Feb. 15 hearing.

[Bowwowmeow]

Activists Claim Yahoo Again Helped China


By JOE McDONALD (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 09, 2006 4:49 PM EST
BEIJING - Yahoo Inc. has provided Chinese authorities with information used to jail one of its users for eight years, an activist group said Thursday - the second time the U.S.-based Internet firm was accused of helping jail a Chinese user.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo's Hong Kong unit provided information about Li Zhi, a man from southwestern China who was sentenced to prison in 2003 for subversion after posting comments online criticizing official corruption.
Mary Osako, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, said the company didn't know of the case and couldn't comment on whether the group's account was accurate.
However, Osako said Yahoo Hong Kong would not have had access to Li's Chinese account - and it never releases information to the Chinese government.
She said the company was investigating whether Yahoo China, run by a partner company, released the data.
Meanwhile, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for Yahoo to disclose information on Internet writers whose identities it has revealed to Chinese authorities.
"We are disturbed that Yahoo has once again provided account holder information that has been used to jail an Internet writer," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call on Yahoo to make a complete public disclosure of how many such requests it has received."
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations has scheduled a hearing Wednesday on ethical responsibilities of companies doing business in China.
Activists criticized Yahoo last year after it was disclosed that the company provided information that Chinese authorities used to convict and jail reporter Shi Tao for revealing state secrets.
"Now we know Yahoo works regularly and efficiently with the Chinese police," a Reporters Without Borders statement said.
It urged Internet companies to use U.S.-based servers in "repressive countries" so governments must comply with American law when getting information on users.
Osako said that when the company receives government subpoenas, it isn't usually told how information will be used. Only legally required information is turned over, she said.
"The choice in China and other countries is not whether to comply with law enforcement demands for information," Osako said. "Rather, the choice is whether to remain in the country."
Yahoo was "distressed" when it learned of the facts surrounding the Shi Tao case, she said.
In that case, Chinese authorities demanded information from Yahoo's China unit, which complied with Chinese law, Osako said.
She said earlier accounts saying the information was supplied to Chinese authorities by Yahoo's Hong Kong arm were incorrect.
Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also have been criticized for enforcing Chinese censorship guidelines.
Google's China-based service limits online searches for sensitive topics, and Microsoft shut down a Chinese user's Web log upon officials' demand.
Yahoo formed a partnership in October with China's Alibaba.com, which runs Yahoo's mainland China operations.
An Alibaba spokesman, Porter Erisman, said Thursday the company had no information about the 2003 case because it occurred before the partnership.
Its chief executive, Jack Ma, said earlier his company would cooperate with authorities seeking information on "politically sensitive information" sent by a Yahoo e-mail customer.

[Rainbow]

But then going on the information which has been revealed so far, (ie the info that's got past the censors!) we are living in a world knee deep in censorship aren't we?
Some obvious portions of censorship are a necessity and thank goodness they exist, but other segments are there it would seem to ensure that the elites backs are covered and the public stay blinkered to what is really going on in so many areas that directly affect them.