[Politech] In China, U.S. tech companies face free speech choices [fs]

[Declan McCullagh]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/18/MNGDUEPNLA1.DT
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Chinese Internet vs. free speech
Hard choices for U.S. tech giants

Carrie Kirby, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, September 18, 2005

U.S. tech giants are helping the Chinese express themselves online -- as
long as they don't write about democracy, Tibet, sex, Tiananmen Square,
Falun Gong, government corruption or any other taboo subject.

Microsoft bans "democracy" and "Dalai Lama" from the Chinese version of
its blog site. Yahoo recently turned over information that helped the
Chinese government track down and imprison a journalist for the crime of
forwarding an e-mail. Google omits banned publications from its Chinese
news service.

Critics say that cooperating with governments to suppress free speech
violates human rights, international law and corporate ethics. But what
the experts can't agree on is what the companies should do about it. The
Internet -- even with limitations -- is generally considered a powerful
democratizing force. If international companies withdrew from the
Chinese Internet market, the result might mean even fewer chances for
free communications there.

[...remainder snipped...]
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