Internet Firms to Set Government Info Surrender Rules
By Curt on Aug 5, 2008 in Threatened bloggers, Yahoo, Imprisoned bloggers
NPR reported on the efforts of internet companies such as Google and Yahoo to create a code for actions surrounding the surrender of information on their users to governments. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, I suppose. (That’s reserved for the users once they hit the various vermin-infested torture chambers those companies help the governments to fill, such as the Chinese prison where Shi Tao resides. Yahoo gave the Chinese government information on Shi Tao that they were not legally obliged to give. This journalist was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in jail for sharing a memo with others on a forum.)
Since Yahoo CEO (for the nonce) Jerry Yang was spanked in public, at a Congressional committee meeting in the U.S. led by Tom Lantos (G-d rest his soul - we’ll miss him before long), at which Yang was forced to apologize to Shi Tao’s mother and was called, along with his confederates, “moral pygmies,” the company has set up a fund for the vicitms of internet repression. And all it took was a lawsuit and public humiliation by the United States Congress.
I may be wrong, but I can find no current information that this “humanitarian relief” fund has actually been set up. (If anyone has evidence that this thing is real and it’s actually handed out money, please let us know.) I suspect this newest PR move by these companies will be about as sincere as the relief fund. I’d be delighted to shout how wrong I was from the rooftops. Here’s hoping.
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Esra'a | Aug 6, 2008 | Reply
Here is what they apparently set up - Yahoo! for Good:
http://forgood.yahoo.com/index.html
And then here is what they have listed (as last!) in their Social Responsibility section:
http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/human-rights-free-expression.cfm
I have no idea what that is supposed to be, but it’s not contributing any good so far. The company seems to be in shackles and they really couldn’t care less about free speech unless it comes with good PR to balance things out.
Have they played any important roles in freeing any dissidents? No. Have they gone out of their way to support a certain dissident? No. Do they fund campaigns and organizations having to do with free speech? No.
Someone correct me if I am wrong. But Yahoo has no real record of achievements in the human rights field.
Ngeny | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply
Its all about on the CSR fad without really wanting to do anything