Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Jailed Chinese Reporter Joins Yahoo! Suit

Posted by Zonk on from the keep-your-friends-close dept.

taoman1 writes "The Associated Press reports that Shi Tao, who was sentenced in 2005 to 10 years in prison, is now seeking compensation from Yahoo. He claims the Hong Kong and Chinese branches of the company provided information to the Chinese authorities that led to his arrest. 'Shi, a former writer for the financial publication Contemporary Business News, was jailed for allegedly providing state secrets to foreigners. His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media. Yahoo has acknowledged turning over data on Shi at the request of the Chinese government, saying company employees face civil and criminal sanctions if they ignore local laws. It denies Yahoo Hong Kong was involved.'"

3 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Is "morally" dead nowadays? by trippeh · · Score: 0, Troll

    Morally reprehensible from OUR moral code only, thanks. Who are we to say that OUR moral code is more valid than the Chinese government's moral code?

    Also, what happens to the people who are working for Yahoo!China? Do they lose their jobs just so Yahoo! can be morally upright? Or the companies with advertising on the Yahoo!China pages/domains? Or the groups that it hosts? Are all of these people supposed to be punished because Yahoo! is conforming to one particular moral code, a code that conflicts with that of the country in which they are operating? This issue has too many facets to simply apply the "Jail is wrong, Communist China is wrong, Big Corporations are wrong" blanket.

    --
    THUD~*
  2. Re:Not to suggest ... by trippeh · · Score: 0, Troll

    Fragment: Consider revising

    --
    THUD~*
  3. Re:What Yahoo doesn't say by Score+Whore · · Score: 0, Troll

    Shi Tao's lawyer says there was "no obligation at all to follow mainland China's law" (from the article linked above).


    I wonder, does this mean that Chinese companies can open up factories in the US? Then proceed to employ children for one tenth of a yuan per week? And make them work one hundred hours per week? And dump all their toxic waste into the local water supply? And pump all their noxious fumes into the atmosphere?

    Because there is "no obligation at all to follow mainland US law".

    What a stupid statement. If you want to do business in a country, you have to follow their laws.