Reporters Without Borders / Internet Freedom desk
CHINA
Another cyber-dissident imprisoned because of date provided by Yahoo
Reporters Without Borders today condemned the US firm Yahoo! for handing over data on one of its users in China which enabled the authorities there to send him to prison for eight years, the second such case that has come to light in recent months.
It called on Yahoo! to supply a list of all cyber-dissidents it has provided data on, beginning with 81 people in China whose release the worldwide press freedom organisation is currently campaigning for.
It said it had discovered that Yahoo! customer and cyber-dissident 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 15 February."
The foreign-based news website Boxun.com posted on 5 February the plea of cyber-dissident Li’s lawyer, Zhang Sizhi, at an appeal court hearing in February 2004 (www.peacehall.com/cgi-bin/news/gb_display/print_version.cgi?art=/gb/china/2006/02&link=200602051139.shtml). 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 1 August 2003.
Li, a 35-year-old ex-civil servant from Dazhou (South-West), had been sentenced on 10 December 2003 to eight years in prison for "inciting subversion." He had been arrested the previous August after he criticised 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 sub-committee on human rights and international operations will hold a hearing on 15 February about the ethical responsibilities of Internet firms. Yahoo! has been invited to attend.
49 cyber-dissidents and 32 journalists are in prison in China for posting on the Internet articles and criticism of the authorities.
For the Shi Tao case: www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14884
Fresh US outrage at Yahoo ahead of China hearings
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – U.S. Internet
companies faced fresh bipartisan criticism in the Congress on
Thursday following heightened controversy over Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO – news)’s
alleged role in the Chinese government’s eight-year prison
sentence against a second dissident.
"I don’t like any American company ratting out a citizen
for speaking out against their government," Rep. Tim Ryan (news, bio, voting record), an
Ohio Democrat and member of the House Human Rights
Subcommittee, told Reuters on Thursday.
"This is the tip of the iceberg of a very oppressive regime
that we have almost become accustomed to America," Rep. Chris
Smith, a Republican and chairman of the House Human Rights
Subcommittee, told Reuters.
The storm over Western media companies’ compliance with
China’s policies comes before next week’s hearing by Smith’s
committee where lawmakers from both parties are expected to
grill representatives from Yahoo, Google Inc., Microsoft Corp.
and Cisco Systems Inc..
"There are probably others (dissidents) that we need to
find out about. We are going to make sure it doesn’t get swept
under the rug," Smith said.
Google came under fire last month for bowing to Chinese
government pressure to block politically sensitive terms on its
new Chinese site. Microsoft has also angered human rights
activists by blocking the blog of a critic of the Beijing
government.
Yahoo spokeswoman Linda Osaka said her company was unaware
of the details of the latest case raised by Paris-based
international rights group Reporters Without Borders. The group
said Yahoo provided electronic records to Chinese authorities
that led to the imprisonment of writer Li Zhi in 2003.
"The choice in China and other countries is not whether to
comply with local laws. The choice is whether to remain in the
country or not," Osaka said. "We have a philosophy of
engagement. We believe the Internet is a positive force."
Yahoo’s engagement includes a $1 billion investment last
year to acquire a 40 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce
company Alibaba.com, which now runs the company’s China
operations.
Alibaba has moved all of its 2,000 Yahoo China servers from
the United States to China, Alibaba’s CEO said last year.
Smith, one of the harshest China critics in Congress, said
he wants legislation requiring companies to pull operations
such as e-mail servers out of China and other countries that
lack U.S.-style civil rights and due process protections.
Google is already engaged in a legal battle with the Bush
administration over whether the Justice Department can force
the Web search company to turn over data about its customers’
Web-surfing habits. The information is sought by the government
to defend a law to prevent online child pornography.
Smith said the hearings set for February 15 will push Yahoo
to reveal what information it provided to the Chinese
government, the number of people involved and details on how
Yahoo interacts with what he describes as the "secret police."
"We only responded with what we were legally compelled to
provide and nothing more," Osako said. "We had a vigorous
process in place to make sure that only required material was
provided," she said.
"Congress remains very concerned with the Chinese pressure
on Internet companies to help in Beijing’s continuing crackdown
on free speech," said Rep. Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record), the founding co-chairman
of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
"We are looking into ways in which the companies can resist
or circumvent this pressure, and this will be Topic A at our
hearing next week," said Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the
House International Relations Committee whose district includes
the northern edge of Silicon Valley.
"The bloom is off the rose for the Internet industry," said
John Palfrey, director of an Internet think tank at Harvard Law
School. "There is a sense that American companies have a higher
obligation than has been practiced in China in recent years."
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 