Yahoo Settles Lawsuit Brought by Families of Chinese Dissidents

Nov 19th, 2007 • Posted in: News

SAN FRANCISCO
Internet giant Yahoo, at the center of a legal and ethics controversy over the rights and responsibilities of U.S. Internet firms doing business abroad, last week settled a lawsuit brought by the families of two Chinese dissidents who were jailed with the help of information Yahoo gave to Chinese authorities.

CNN reports that the suit was filed by dissident Wang Xiaoning, his wife Yu Ling, and the family of a pro-democracy reporter named Shi Tao.

Wang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for pro-democracy blogging and Shi received a similar sentence for writing about the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989, a subject outlawed by Chinese officials.

Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the Times of London reports that as part of the deal, Yahoo agreed to provide financial, humanitarian, and legal help to the families and set up a legal fund to help other imprisoned dissidents.

Yahoo’s settlement followed by a week what PC Magazine called a “public shaming” before the U.S. Congress in which executives of the firm were berated for furnishing details that helped the Chinese government track down the Internet addresses of the dissidents.

Technology news service CNET reports that some close to the case speculate that Yahoo settled because if the lawsuit had gone to trial the firm would have been forced to disclose its involvement in other Chinese investigations.

The Global Online Freedom Act of 2007, a bill being considered by Congress, would prohibit U.S. companies from cooperating with foreign nations in censoring Internet content or helping authorities track down users, reports AsiaMedia, a news service based out of UCLA.

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One Response »

1. Ethics Newsline® » What They're Saying » The Government is the Spy on June 15th, 2009 at 11:08 pm:

   [...] see: Related Newsline story, June 16 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 24, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 19, 2007 — Related Newsline story, July 24, 2006 — Related Newsline story, [...]

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