Yahoo: ‘China police informant’
p2p news / p2pnet:- Yahoo ! Holdings (Hong Kong) gave Communist China state security authorities information that helped identify, convict and sentence a Chinese writer who’d highlighted press restrictions, says Reporters Without Borders.
In April, the man, Shi Tao, 37, was jailed for 10 years for allegedly illegally providing state secrets to foreigners.
“We already knew that Yahoo ! collaborates enthusiastically with the Chinese regime in questions of censorship, and now we know it is a Chinese police informant as well,” states RWB.
“Yahoo ! obviously complied with requests from the Chinese authorities to furnish information regarding an IP address that linked Shi Tao to materials posted online, and the company will yet again simply state that they just conform to the laws of the countries in which they operate. But does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations?
“How far will it go to please Beijing ?”
A poet and journalist, Shi Tao worked until May, 2004, for the daily Dangdai Shang Bao (Contemporary Trade News) and also contributed to several newspapers and had written a number of articles for online forums, particularly Min Zhu Lun Tan (Democracy Forum), says RWB in an earlier story.
Now, “Information supplied by Yahoo ! led to the conviction of a good journalist who has paid dearly for trying to get the news out,” says RWB. “It is one thing to turn a blind eye to the Chinese government’s abuses and it is quite another thing to collaborate.”
“His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media,” says the Associated Press, going on:
” A number of Chinese journalists have faced similar charges of violating vague security laws as communist leaders struggle to maintain control of information in the burgeoning Internet era. Yahoo and its major rivals have been expanding their presence in China in hopes of reaching more of the country’s population as the Internet becomes more ingrained in their daily lives.
“Just last month, Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 40 percent stake in China’s biggest online commerce firm, Alibaba.com.
“Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft are locked in a bitter legal battle over a former Microsoft engineer who Google hired in July to oversee the opening of a research center in China.”
Nor is this the only attack Yahoo is suffering. Spamhaus says it’s hosting close to 5,000 fraudulent web sites.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
Reporters Without Borders – Information supplied by Yahoo ! helped journalist Shi Tao get 10 years in prison, September 6, 2005
earlier story – Arrest of poet and journalist Shi Tao, December 6, 2004
Associated Press – Yahoo Helped China Jail Journalist, September 6, 2005
fraudulent web sites – ‘Yahoo hosts fraud sites’, September 6, 2005
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If you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent website blocking outside of China.
Download it here and feel free to copy the zip and host it yourself so others can download it.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:40 pm
how come you’ve taken to calling China Communist China al of a sudden?
September 7th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
That was likely done to highlight Yahoo’s collaboration with tyrants. I don’t know if China is necessarily Communist, but I do know that it is a tyranny that the multinational companies are eager to leverage. Where the people see a tyrant abusing the people he/she controls, the cartels see an easily exploitable resource. Once a resource is used up or no longer makes money for the cartels, the cartels are quick to abandon it. People are not looked apon by the cartels as living, breathing beings created by Elohim (God), but rather as a resource or source of money making capability.
The selling of this reporter to the Chinese government allows Yahoo to have an economic advantage in the global marketplace. The selling out of this reporter should not come as a suprise to people since the multinational corporation care little about people. I thank Jon and the likes of him for exposing the depravity of these multinational thugs. Just remember that Yahoo also host scam spam sites and does little to stem the abuse. I know that I will no longer use Yahoo, and I encourage Spamhaus to add Yahoo email to their blocklist because they are a spam support service. If Spamhaus does this, maybe Yahoo’s bottom line will be negatively impacted enough so that they will clean up their service. Both the catels and the governments need to be taught a lesson.
The recent blocking of aid to the poor of New Orleans should show what the governments and cartels think of those that do not make money for them. I honestly believe that this blockage of aid was done wilfully and would be continuing to this very day if it had not received so much negetive press. Fortunately, there are laws (for now) on the books that prevent the mass extermination of those the cartels and government consider undesirable. However, this may not be the case in the near future. Remember to the cartels, you are not a person; you are a human resource.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
… that’s what it is.
The media now refer to it simply as China, as though it’s yet another democracy. In fact, it’s one of the world’s most repressive regimes and it’s largely kept afloat by the thousands of highly lucrative deals it has with companies such as Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Boeing, and so on and so on.
I was tempted to use ‘Red China,’ as it was before it became so irresistible to the corporate community ; )
Cheers!
September 7th, 2005 at 6:36 pm
I do not like repressive regimes such as the Chines government. That is why I try my best not to buy goods made in China or anywhere else where they use slave labor. However, each year, this gets harder and harder to do. I believe that the government is more fascist than it is communist because it is controlled by those who have big business connections.
The Republican side of America’s political party ought to be ashamed of itself for supporting repressive regimes such as Communist China while at the same time preaching about freedom and morality. The Democratic side also should be ashamed of itself for lying to American workers that they would protect them from slave labour by regulating imports. Both sides of America’s political party have lied so many times to the American people that they should have zzero credibility.
When it comes to choosing a candidate on a ballot, I will pick a candidate running under the Constitution Party first, Libertarian Party second, and any other party next. Democratic-Republican candidates are the last on the list. I will rarely pick a Democrat-Republican party member.