Group: Yahoo Aided Crackdown on Dissident
    By Dan Goodin
    The Associated Press

    Wednesday 08 February 2006

Group claims Yahoo Inc. assisted crackdown on Chinese dissident.

    San Francisco - A Yahoo Inc. unit provided information that led to an eight-year prison sentence for a Chinese dissident, an advocacy group for journalists said Wednesday, which would be at least the second time the company has aided Chinese authorities in their crackdown on protesters.

    Yahoo Hong Kong provided electronic records that led to the conviction of dissident Li Zhi, according to Reporters Without Borders, which advocates on behalf of journalists.

    Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said Yahoo Hong Kong would not have had access to Li's Chinese account and that it never releases information to the Chinese government. Osako said the company was investigating whether Yahoo China operated by a partner company had released the data.

    The group pointed to a plea entered by Li's lawyer, Zhang Sizhi, that was recently posted online. It shows that Yahoo Hong Kong turned over information related to Li in August 2003, the group said.

    Last September, Reporters Without Borders revealed that Yahoo helped Chinese authorities convict and jail Shi Tao, a journalist who had written an e-mail about press restrictions.

    Officials for Yahoo have no information relating to Li and could not say if the Hong Kong unit provided information about Li's case, Osako said.

    When Yahoo receives government subpoenas, it generally isn't told what they will be used for, Osaka said. Attorneys respond by turning over only the information that is legally required.

    In October, Yahoo formed a partnership with Alibaba.com, which has responsibility for complying with Chinese authorities' requests for information going forward. Osako said Alibaba.com operates and manages the Yahoo China business, with any future decisions left to those managers' discretion.

    "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." Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo was "distressed" when it learned of the facts surrounding the Shi Tao case, she said.

    Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo and other online sites should locate their servers providing service to "repressive countries" in the United States so that governments must comply with US law when getting information on users.

    "Our first reaction is to be appalled at Yahoo helping to give information that puts dissidents in jail," Reporters Without Borders spokeswoman Lucie Morillon said.

    Two weeks ago Yahoo's rival, Google Inc., raised the ire of members of Congress when it said it would introduce a site in China that would censor some search results to comply with that that country's laws on certain words.

    The House of Representatives Committee on International Relations has scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing on the ethical responsibilities of companies doing business in China. Yahoo, Google and Microsoft Corp. have said they plan to attend.