Mark Tran
Tuesday August 28, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Photograph: Getty Images
The internet company Yahoo! has become embroiled in a legal battle with a human rights group over a decision to disclose the identity of Chinese citizens, leading to their arrests.
Yahoo! is being sued by the World Organisation for Human Rights, based in Washington, on behalf of Wang Xiaoning and his wife, Yu Ling.
He is serving a 10-year prison sentence for advocating democratic reform in articles circulated on the internet.
The group is also suing Yahoo! on behalf of Shi Tao, a journalist serving a 10-year sentence for sending an email summarising a Chinese government communiqué on how reporters should handle the 15th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.
The suit alleges that these people - and others yet to be identified - were tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment at the hands of the Chinese authorities because of information that Yahoo!, Yahoo! China or Alibaba.com, a Chinese company in which Yahoo! has a minority stake, had passed on to the government.
Shi's case has been taken up by the British human rights group Amnesty International. The group says he is kept under tight control, with family visits requiring special approval from the prison manager, and is not allowed to receive printed matter, including books or newspapers.
Last November, he was awarded the Golden Prize of Freedom by the World Association of Newspapers.
Amnesty has also criticised Yahoo! for providing information to the authorities that led to the arrests and, more generally, the involvement of the company in the practice of government censorship.
In a 40-page defence filed in Oakland, California yesterday, the internet firm argued that US courts were not the place for political grievances against the Chinese government.
"This is a political and diplomatic issue, not a legal one," Kelley Benander, a Yahoo! spokeswoman, told the Los Angeles Times. "The real issue here is the plaintiffs' outrage at the behaviour and laws of the Chinese government. The US court system is not the forum for addressing these political concerns."
Yahoo! does not dispute turning over information in response to Chinese government demands, but argues there was little connection between that information and the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the prisoners.
In its court filings, the company said it "deeply sympathises" with the plaintiffs and their families and does not condone the suppression of their liberties. However, it also argues that the company has no control over Chinese laws or their enforcement.
Human rights groups have criticised other internet companies over their dealings with China.
Google has come under fire for its decision to censor its search services on subjects such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in order to gain greater access to China's fast-growing market.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
음성 인공지능 분야에서 스타트업이 생각해볼 수 있는 전략은 아마 다음과 같이 3가지 정도가 있을 것이다: 독자적 Vertical 음성 인공지능 Application 구축 기 음성 플랫폼을 활용한 B2B2C 형태의 비지니스 구축 기 음성 플랫폼...
-
개발자 컨퍼런스같은 것도 방문한게 언제인지 까마득합니다. 코로나로 왠지 교류가 많이 없어졌습니다. 패스트캠퍼스로부터 좋은 기회를 얻어 강연을 하나 오픈하였습니다. 제가 강연에서 주로 다룰 내용은, 인터넷 역사 이래 발전해온 서버 사이드 기술들에 대해 ...
-
패밀리 세단으로 새차 구입은 좀 무리일 것 같아서, 중고로 하나 얻어왔습니다. 중고차라고 티 내는건지 :-) 시거잭에 전원이 안들어오더군요. 요즘 참 세상 좋아졌다고 생각드는게, 유튜브에서 시거잭 전원 불량에 대한 단서를 얻었습니다. 바로 퓨즈가 나가...
-
무한 집합의 크기 Cardinality , 즉 원소의 개수를 수학에서는 '농도'라고 말한다. 유한 집합의 크기는 그대로 원소의 개수 이지만, 무한 집합의 경우는 원소의 개수를 낱낱이 셈하는 것은 불가능하기 때문에 '농도'라...
https://www.omgqq.com 우리카지노사이트
ReplyDeletehttps://www.omgqq.com/thekingcasino 더킹카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/sandscasino 샌즈카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/firstcasino 퍼스트카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/yescasino 예스카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/supercasino 슈퍼카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/gatsbycasino 개츠비카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/33casino 33카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/worldcasino 월드카지노
https://www.omgqq.com/merit 메리트카지노
https://www.oobbg.com 우리카지노사이트
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oobbg.com/theking 더킹카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/sands 샌즈카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/first 퍼스트카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/yes 예스카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/coin 코인카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/33 33카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/world 월드카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/merit 메리트카지노
https://www.oobbg.com/gatsby 개츠비카지노