According to Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders), Information supplied by Yahoo! helped Chinese journalist Shi Tao get 10 years in prison
The text of the verdict in the case of journalist Shi Tao – sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for “divulging state secrets abroad” – shows that Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. provided China’s state security authorities with details that helped to identify and convict him. It reveals that the company provided the Chinese investigating organs with detailed information that apparently enabled them to link Shi’s personal e-mail account (on the Chinese Yahoo! service at yahoo.com.cn) and the specific message containing information treated as a “state secret” to the IP address of his computer. More details from RSF here.
Shi Tao was jailed because he e-mailed sensitive political information to be posted on dissident websites hosted outside China. His case is a cautionary tale to bloggers around the world: If you are publicizing information and views that your government doesn't want exposed – even if you believe you have the right to do so under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – companies like Yahoo! will not shield you from your government.
Click here for the full text in both Chinese and English of the Shi Tao verdict (PDF document) courtesy of the Dui Hua Foundation, a San Francisco-based non-governmental organization.
20 comments
可怕的中国政府,
It’s BAD!
We Allways remember these men that hit us ,use country’s tools
我们永远记住一些人,他们肆意以国家的名义,和“工具”残害自己的同胞,
歼贼当道,冠冕堂皇,这是中崋民族的耻辱,
Tranposition to well known history will help clarify the debate :
20 Years ago (supposing the WWW had existed at that time) Yahoo would have helped jail soviet dissidents and Solidarsnoc militants.
60-odd years ago it may have tipped the nazis about jews on the run or French resistants.
Business is businness isn’t it ? Or should it be different ?
“Alcofribas Nazier:
Tranposition to well known history will help clarify the debate :
20 Years ago (supposing the WWW had existed at that time) Yahoo would have helped jail soviet dissidents and Solidarsnoc militants.
60-odd years ago it may have tipped the nazis about jews on the run or French resistants.
Business is businness isn’t it ? Or should it be different ?”
“NYCmoderate:What is the difference, in substance not mechanics, between Yahoo turning this information over to the Chinese government and the US government retrieving similar information in this country either through court order or the PATRIOT act?
… what should they do instead?”
Sadly, Yahoo doesn’t care until their money is impacted. HOWEVER, in the US, Yahoo (like all corporations) 1) can go to court to fight what it views as unfair and 2) send lobbyists to make sure they can weaken or don’t have to comply with regulations any way.
Is that too disillusioned of me?
Yahoo is evil. Some imposter got into my jimmylowry98 account and changed my password along with other identifying information so I could not recover it. Here is what yahoo says I must do:
Hello,
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Account Services.
In order for us to assist you in the most efficient manner possible, we
will need you to provide all of the information requested below.
Without the proper verification information, we may be unable to provide
further assistance.
Please reply to this email and provide all of the following:
1. Yahoo! ID
2. Date of birth (mm-dd-yyyy)
3. ZIP/Postal Code
4. Country
5. The alternate email address that is currently listed
6. Your new desired alternate email address, if it needs to be updated
(please note that this address cannot be a Yahoo! Mail address)
7. Challenge Question and Secret Answer, if applicable.
Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.
Regards,
Damian
Yahoo! Customer Care
Of course, I can’t answer these.
So Damian, Why don’t you go execute a few more chinese citizens and also stick that yahoo account up your *** where the sun don’t shine.
“September 23rd, 2005 at 3:39 am Alcofribas Nazier:
Tranposition to well known history will help clarify the debate :
20 Years ago (supposing the WWW had existed at that time) Yahoo would have helped jail soviet dissidents and Solidarsnoc militants.
60-odd years ago it may have tipped the nazis about jews on the run or French resistants.
Business is businness isn’t it ? Or should it be different”
I AGREE WITH YOU! YAHOO BACK IN NAZI GERMANY WOULD HAVE TURNED IN JEWS AND ANYONE WHO DIDN’T AGREE WITH THE NAZI GOVERNMENT TO BE MURDERED IN GAS CHAMBERS. THERE IS A MORAL STANDARD THAT IS UNIVERSAL REGARDLESS OF HUMAN LAWS. FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS A UNIVERSAL MORAL LAW THAT SUPERSEDES ALL HUMAN LAWS INCLUDING CHINESE LAWS. YAHOO AND ANY BUSINESS THAT DOESN’T ABIDE TO THESE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS HAVE NO VALID DEFENSE WHEN THEY GET PEOPLE WHO SPEAK THEIR MINDS IN JAIL. YAHOO, YOU HAVE NO MORAL STANDING IN GETTING PEOPLE JAILED FOR SPEAKING THEIR MINDS. YOU ARE A UNIVERSAL MORAL LAW BREAKER, AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED SINCE YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE HUMAN RACE. YAHOO, I SPEAK TO YOU AS AN ORGANIZATION, ARE YOU WILLING TO TURN IN PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN BE EXECUTED BY THE CHINESE GOVERMENT? WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO DRAW THE LINE BETWEEN SELLING YOUR SOUL TO MAKE MONEY AND UPHOLD BASIC HUMAN MORALS? YAHOO, YOU ARE A SHAME TO THE HUMAN RACE.
Thank You for your source. Keep working!