Skype in China censor row
p2p news / p2pnet: Following news that official Chinese court documents show Yahoo provided Chinese authorities with evidence against a jailed cyber dissident, Skype creator Niklas Zennström says its OK for Chinese partner Tom Onlineto censor text messages.
"Those are the regulations," says Zennström.
Skype, now owned by eBay, "defends this compliance as the only way to do business in China," says the Financial Times, echoing what has become the standard corporate line for doing business with the totalitarian regime.
"Niklas Zennström, Skype’s chief executive, responded in a Financial Times interview, to accusations that the company had censored text messages containing words like ‘Falun Gong’, a banned movement, and ‘Dalai Lama’," the FT continues.
"He said Tom Online, its joint venture partner in China, was complying with local law. ‘Tom had implemented a text filter, which is what everyone else in that market is doing,’ said Mr Zennström."
The story points out that Skye and Yahoo are far from being alone in cooperating with China.
Google and Microsoft have also criticised for working with China’s censorship rules, it says, quoting Zennström as stating, "I may like or not like the laws and regulations to operate businesses in the UK or Germany or the US, but if I do business there I choose to comply with those laws and regulations."
Tom-Skype had not put users at risk.
"Yahoo has been lambasted for providing information that helped the Chinese jail two [now three] dissidents, adds the FT.
"Those things are in no way jeopardising the privacy or the security of any of the users," said Mr Zennström.
Chinese leader Hu Jintao, on a state visit to the US, broke bread with Microsoft boss Bill Gates at the later’s luxury home.
Also See:
jailed cyber dissident – Yahoo: new China scandal, April 20, 2006
says its OK – Skype/Tom censor messages, April 20, 2006
Financial Times – Skype says texts censored by China, April 19, 2006
broke bread – Gates, Hu: mutual admiration, April 19, 2006
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April 21st, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Yahoo, Google, now Skype/Ebay…whose next?
There are companies, such as Anonymizer, that aren’t willing to turn a blind eye to these atrocious human rights violations just for financial gain. Anonymizer just released an anti-censorship solution that will allow the people of China to surf the net anonymously; and it is being offered to them for free! Lance Cottrell, Anonymizer’s President, believes so strongly upholding basic civil liberties, that he is offering this solution at his own expense. Go to http://www.xifuchun.com for more info.
April 21st, 2006 at 4:14 pm
65 years ago IBM decided “It was the only way to do business in Germany”, to their everlasting shame. Forget that “lessons of history” stuff. They never learn. When you are one of the richest companies since the beginning of time, can’t you afford to just not do business in a country that sucks?
April 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 pm
A text censor is one thing; there are 0bviuos ways around those. Sadly, to cooperate with the regimes of the world, Skype may incorporate backdoors into future programs.
This selling our of a consumer base is not much different from AT&T and their relationship with the NSA; it’s just bitness after all.