Ethics Newsline®

In a repeat of a common contention over the ethics of cross-cultural censorship, the company says it has no choice but to obey Chinese laws if it wants to work in China

NEW YORK
A Chinese version of Skype, eBay’s popular Web-communication software, spies on users, zeroing in on keywords such as “democracy,” Taiwan Independence,” or “Falun Gong,” according to press reports.

The Chinese company, called TOM-Skype, has been logging and storing users’ instant messages so they can be monitored for content offensive to the government, reports technology network CNET.

The revelation came from researchers at the University of Toronto, who say they discovered that TOM-Skype was not only censoring communication but also logging and recording text chats and voice calls, according to CNET.

Echoing an oft-repeated contention in the ongoing discussion of the ethics of censorship, Skype officials said they were unaware of the logging of communications but said their Chinese TOM-Skype partners have no choice but to obey Chinese law to operate in China, trade journal InformationWeek reports.

The same rationale for cooperating with the repressive Chinese government has been cited by companies such as Google and Yahoo.

Skype has claimed that it was aware that that partner company TOM Online was using a text filter to block certain words considered subversive in China, but says it was caught by surprise when the Chinese partner changed policies and stored the messages, Reuters reports.

Sources: CNET, Oct. 6 — PC Magazine, Oct. 3 — InformationWeek, Oct. 2 — ComputerWorld, Oct. 2 — Reuters, Oct. 2 — CNET, Oct. 1.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 25 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 11 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 4 — Related Newsline story, July 14 — Related Newsline story, June 23.