Long Overdue Good News

Shi Tao was released from prison in 2013,15 months earlier than his sentence would have allowed.

In the 10 years that I've been following this issue, Yahoo!'s revenue has grown only 2.9%. They've fallen from their role as a major internet player to a minor one. Still, I'd like to think that BooYahoo! and the myriad of other organizations who put pressure on Yahoo! for their actions has lead to modifications in not only Yahoo!'s policies, but has raised awareness of this issue among all similar organizations.

The internet has made the world a global community, and calls for a global application of ethical standards.

I wish Mr. Shi Tao a long and happy life. I wish he will never have to worry about what he says in an e-mail, but I know he will.

Google Makes Good

And I knew they would eventually.

Cyber attackers in China were fiddling about in the e-mail accounts of gmail users who are known China human rights activists.

This is leading to them reconsidering their business relationship with China.

Nice move, Google.

Another Yahoo! Boycott site

They are of like mind: www.BoycottYahoo.com

I wish there were a hundred such sites!

In the meantime, lots of news about Yahoo! has been circulating. They are in financial trouble, and will likely be purchased by one of the bigger players in an attempt to increase market share.

The boycott will be revisited if Yahoo! is purchased, depending on the stated policies of whoever buys them.

Chinese Protesting Internet Censorship

This article indicates that a groundswell of protests are starting to crop up in China. It is an encouraging article, but also enlightening as it indicates that many Chinese citizens were not aware of how much censorship they were suffering.

Perhaps if some other company buys Yahoo! (which now seems likely), the new owners will be aware of this trend in China and change Yahoo!'s policies.

Yahoo! In the News

They say in England that if you wait long enough for a train, two will come at once.

So it is with Yahoo! news.

First, Yahoo!'s stocks are falling to a point lowe than they have been in over four years, and they are laying off 1000 workers. Hopefully they will jettison the people who turn over the names of Yahoo! users to the Chinese government.

Second, the Full Transcript of Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on Yahoo! and China has been posted here. It is aptly titled "Yahoo! Inc.’s Provision of False Information to Congress," and includes testimony from Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan. The hearing was called following the committee’s conclusion that Yahoo! officials provided false information to Congress in early 2006 regarding its role in a human rights case in China that sent journalist Shi Tao to jail for a decade.

I'm sure these two events are unrelated, but there seems as if the universe is handing out its own justice.

Yahoo! Pays Up

A week after lawmakers shamed its executives as moral "pygmies," Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday reached an out-of-court settlement with the families of two Chinese journalists thrown into jail for dissidence after the company disclosed their identities to local police.

The LA Times' lead sentence does a good job of summing up the situation.

Calling them moral pygmies, however, is actually a disservice to pygmies.

On the Hotseat Again

In February of last year, Yahoo!'s General Counsel Michael Callahan told a government panel he didn't have any knowledge of the facts surrounding why Chinese authorities approached Yahoo China with a request for identifying information about Shi.

Turns out he did.

"... the legal order did, in fact, specify that Shi was suspected of leaking "state secrets."

"He added that he sincerely regretted not updating the committee with that information when, in October of last year, the details of the Chinese government order were finally brought to his attention."

I find it hard to believe he went before a government panel without fully investigating the facts he would be questioned on.

Just more evidence for why we should boycott Yahoo!

UPDATE: Thanks to Helge Kraak, who has assembled quite a bit of footage and research on this topic at his website here, you can view the footage of this hearing in Real Video format. Check out the November 8th update on his site.