Yahoo Settles China Torture Lawsuit

(AP)  Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday settled a lawsuit with two Chinese journalists who were jailed after the company provided Chinese authorities with information about their online activities.

The two journalists and a family member sued the Sunnyvale, California-based company earlier this year after Yahoo HK, Yahoo's wholly owned subsidiary based in Hong Kong, gave Chinese authorities e-mails containing pro-democracy literature. The jailed journalists alleged in the lawsuit that jailers have tortured them and that Yahoo was responsible.

The company has denied any responsibility and maintained it was complying with Chinese law when it turned over the e-mails.

The case has raised questions about whether Internet companies should cooperate with governments that deny freedom of speech and frequently crack down on journalists. It also has been the subject of congressional hearings, where lawmakers accused the company of collaborating with an oppressive communist regime.

Neither side disclosed terms of the settlement other than to agree that Yahoo would pay the attorneys fees of the two journalists and the family member who sued. The three were represented by The World Organization for Human Rights in Washington D.C.

Shi Tao, a former writer for the financial publication Contemporary Business News, was jailed under state secrecy laws for allegedly providing state secrets to foreigners.

According to the suit, the other journalist, Wang Xiaoning, was arrested in 2002 after Yahoo HK gave police information linking him to his anonymous e-mails and other political writings he posted online.

Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan offered apologies to Shi's mother at a congressional hearing last week.

Yang and Callahan turned around from the witness table and bowed from their seats to the woman, Gao Qinsheng, who bowed in return and then began to weep.

After the hearing, the Yahoo officials met with Gao Qinsheng for the first time to hear her concerns.

Callahan was summoned before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week to explain testimony he gave Congress last year. He said then that Yahoo had no information about the nature of China's investigation when the company handed over information that ended up being used to convict Shi.

Callahan subsequently has acknowledged that Yahoo officials had received a subpoena-like document that made reference to suspected "illegal provision of state secrets" - a common charge against political dissidents.

He reiterated last week that he regretted his failure to inform the committee of this new information once he learned of it months after his congressional testimony.

But Callahan continued to insist that Yahoo did not know the real nature of the Chinese investigation because the order was not specific.

[eggy1620]

Any company doing business in China is EXPECTED to spy and report on their customers, employees, competitors, etc. Otherwise, you don''t do business in China.

[jetranger7]

Why I don''t and Refuse to use YAHOO at all, in anyway Shape or Form, Also, rather anybody knows it or not or Believes it, but using YAHOO will open up certain ports, in your computer that''ll allow access, and allow Viruses and Trojans to be installed in your computer, this I read from an articke in the magazine Smart Computing about 3 years ago. No wonder YAHOO was able to copy and send the E-Mails of those chinese to the chinese government, it allows Spying on you and your personel business as well, rather you believe it or not, better believe it, just re-read the story again if your not convinced, how else could they be retriving mail, they''re spying on you, without your consent or knowledge !! I''d dump everything out of my computer that had the words YAHOO in it,, Disinfect your computer, before it infects you ! This message will self destruct in 5 minutes (Mission Impossible) !

[kansas1946]

The company has denied any responsibility and maintained it was complying with Chinese law when it turned over the e-mails.
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Give me a break, Yahoo. Accept the responsibility for this instead of sniveling about how unfair it is, and you were only following "Chinese law."
You were following the only law you know, and its name is profit. When money is more important than the dignity and safety of human beings, then you have lost your soul and need to lose your business. Don''t worry, your guys can probably get a job in George''s justice department. They like torture.

[runningralph]

If Yahoo is doing business in China they must obey Chinese law. In the US it is a crime to withhold information in an investigation. If people were tortured by Chinese cops, go sue China. If Yahoo had withheld info, they could have been convicted and imprisoned in China. On the other hand, the US Congress has the right to investigate whatever they want to investigate. But Yahoo committed no offense and they should not have settled anything.

[korinsha]

I wish more people would boycott Yahoo. Why be interested in a news site that has no interest in you, your rights, or your opinions? Commies!

[eggy1620]

Yahoo may have been morally wrong, but the lawsuit still has no merit. Companies should be expected to abide by the laws of the nations in which they do business. We expect nothing less of foreign firms operating in the US.

[gunownerdan]

Shame on Yahoo.
Yahoo used to allow freedom of speech, but not anymore!
Even on yahoo news, people are no longer able to post their opinions on news stories like they can here on CBS.