http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16402
China 9 February 2006
Another cyberdissident imprisoned because of data provided by Yahoo
Reporters Without Borders called on Yahoo ! to supply a list of all cyberdissidents it has provided data on, beginning with 81 people in China whose release the worldwide press freedom organization is currently campaigning for.
It said it had discovered that Yahoo ! customer and cyberdissident Li Zhi had been given his eight-year prison sentence in December 2003 based on electronic records provided by Yahoo. “How many more cases are we going to find ?” it asked.
“We were sure the case of Shi Tao, who was jailed for 10 years last April on the basis of Yahoo-supplied data, was not the only one.
Now we know Yahoo works regularly and efficiently with the Chinese police.
“The firm says it simply responds to requests from the authorities for data without ever knowing what it will be used for. But this argument no longer holds water. Yahoo certainly knew it was helping to arrest political dissidents and journalists, not just ordinary criminals. The company must answer for what it is doing at the US congressional hearing set for February 15.”
The foreign-based news website Boxun.com posted on February 5 the plea of cyberdissident Li’s lawyer, Zhang Sizhi, at an appeal court hearing in February 2004. Zhang said his client, who used the e-mail address libertywg@yahoo.com.cn and user-name lizhi34100, had been sentenced on the basis of data handed over by Yahoo ! Hong Kong in a report dated August 1, 2003.
Li, a 35-year-old ex-civil servant from Dazhou (South-West), had been sentenced on December 10, 2003 to eight years in prison for “inciting subversion.” He had been arrested the previous August after he criticized in online discussion groups and articles the corruption of local officials.
Local sources said Yahoo ! Hong Kong’s cooperation with the police was also mentioned in the court’s verdict on Li.
The US house of Representatives Committee on International Relations will hold a hearing on February 15 about the ethical responsibilities of Internet firms. Yahoo ! has been invited to attend.
49 cyberdissidents and 32 journalists are in prison in China for posting on the Internet articles and criticism of the authorities
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6793
Full Version: Yahoo is not Yahoo China
Yahoo accused in jailing of 2nd China Web user
2006/2/10. BEIJING, AP
Internet firm Yahoo Inc. provided Chinese authorities with information used to jail one of its users for eight years, an activist group said Thursday -- the second time Yahoo 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, California-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 that Yahoo Hong Kong would not have had access to Li's Chinese account -- and that 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.
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations has scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing 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 that said 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.
2006/2/10. BEIJING, AP
Internet firm Yahoo Inc. provided Chinese authorities with information used to jail one of its users for eight years, an activist group said Thursday -- the second time Yahoo 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, California-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 that Yahoo Hong Kong would not have had access to Li's Chinese account -- and that 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.
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations has scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing 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 that said 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.
Yeah, saw that too. This coupled with Googles agreement to filter search results in China is just caving in to dollars over principles.
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