January 12th, 2006
Congress Looks to Require Internet Companies to Resist Chinese Censorship
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
I was expecting something like this to happen eventually, especially with the flaps over Yahoo! and its part in helping Chinese officials convict a journalist accused of leaking state secrets, as well as Microsoft’s censoring of “freedom” and “democracy” last year on their Chinese portal, and the removal of an MSN Spaces blog last week which was written by an outspoken Chinese journalist named Zhao Jing, AKA Michael Anti.
Rep. Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, said Thursday that the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights, which he heads, will hold a hearing in early to mid- February. Smith has invited representatives from the U.S. State Department, Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems, Google, and the international watchdog group Reporters Without Borders to speak.
The effort is designed to determine what can be done, either by legislative mandate or on a voluntary basis, to “dissociate a company from working hand-in-glove with a dictatorship,” Smith said in a telephone interview with CNET News.com. Source: News.com
More thoughts on this subject here.
We Say: I’m personally glad they’re looking into this, though I don’t really expect much to happen, no matter how much I might hope. I guess my big problem with all this is it always seems to be centered on money.
In the News.com article, Sonia Arrison director of technology studies at the free-market Pacific Research Institute says, “If Yahoo isn’t doing business in China, someone else will. It’s putting American businesses at a disadvantage in the world marketplace.”
Last time I checked, there were a few things more important than money and market share, and that’s something I thought the United States used to stand for … at least trying to hold itself to a higher moral standard.
Julien Pain says:
I totally agree with you
Julien Pain
RWB
January 13th, 2006 at 1:30 am
Chris says:
So the country that opens the mail of its citizens, taps their phones, intercepts their emails, confiscates library information, kidnaps people, holds them in secret prisons, commits torture, lies to scare its citizens into an unnecessary war, fixes elections, jails journalists, pays for postitive media coverage, uses fake journalists, distributes propaganda as news, kow-tows to China and Russia while ignoring genocide, this government is upset because private companies take part in OTHER countries despotic activities. Now that just pisses me off.
January 13th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Michael Santo says:
Chris, you have a point there. But that’s also part of what I said about the country having or trying to have a higher moral standard. It should apply (at least it used to) to the government as well as the businesses that are based here.
January 13th, 2006 at 9:49 am
Clayton Longwalker says:
It’s just plain sad really. Cannot even read “Tech News” without mindless ranting by political dipsticks. Guess I’ll scratch RTN of my list of worthy reading.
January 14th, 2006 at 12:51 am
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