Share this Mister Wong Webnews Power-Oldie Linkarena Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Jumptags Upchuckr Simpy StumbleUpon Slashdot Netscape Furl Yahoo Blogmarks Diigo Technorati Newsvine Googlize this Blinklist Facebook Wikio Meneame Diggita Tags House Foreign Affairs Committee Sherman Yahoo Yang Callahan human rights cyber

After being verbally beaten up by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on November 6 over its role in the eventual imprisonment of two Chinese journalists, Yahoo settled out of court on November 13. Yahoo still maintains that it doesn’t share in any responsibility for what happened, including the torture the journalists suffered at the hands of their captors, but says it only complied with local Chinese law when it turned over the information.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) who coldly criticized Yahoo’s top exec and his council, Jerry Yang and Michael Callahan, for not offering humanitarian aid to the families, seems to have been the impetus behind the settlement after an exchange at the panel’s hearing.

The exact terms of the settlement are not available but Yahoo will provide "financial, humanitarian, and legal" support to the families of the cyber dissidents. Yahoo’s tone has become more apologetic as well, since the committee panel hearing. "After meeting with the families, it was clear to me what we had to do to make this right for them, for Yahoo! and for the future," Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang said in an e-mailed statement.

While the aid promised is a step in the right direction, the question of any American company cooperating with a country whose record on human rights abuses is less than stellar still looms. And going even further, will this continue as more and more American companies tap into the expanding Asian market?

TrackBack URI for this entry