links for 2006-02-22

• With a Few Clicks, You, Too, Can Start to Change Your Life - New York Times
  "But now we find ourselves in the midst of the long-anticipated convergence of Internet and television, and a weird thing is happening: people are watching television during the workday..."
  (tags: tv media journalism webcred)
• EastSouthWestNorth: The Most Popular Chinese Blogger
  "Who are these Chinese bloggers? The most popular of them all is actress Xu Jinglei (徐静蕾) at SinaBlog, and the following is an interview with her in Southern Metropolis Daily."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch blogs)
• AP Wire | 02/21/2006 | Google denies report on China operation
  "Google Inc. denied a report Monday that its Chinese-language search engine, which has been criticized for blocking searches for politically sensitive material, is operating without a required government license."
  (tags: google china internet censorship freespeech)
• China Media and Advertising: Danwei
  "Imagine the following scenario: The American congress passes a bill that makes it practically impossible for American Internet companies to operate and compete in the Chinese market, in attempt to prevent censorship and spread freedom."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch GOFA censorship freespeech internet)
• Google sets China hub in Beijing
  "GOOGLE Inc - already the No. 2 search engine in China - has boosted its presence by opening a new headquarters in Beijing yesterday. "
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch google search)
• AsiaMedia :: CHINA: US draft bill targets China censorship
  "A United States congressman has introduced draft legislation that would make it illegal for mainland internet firms listed in the US to comply with Chinese government demands on censorship and disclosure of personal information."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch censorship freespeech GOFA)

Comments

[Lee May]

The sudden outpouring of sympathy for Shi Tao is to me bewildering. All the web news that I have read has pointed out that he had leaked state secrets and is thus a national security risk. And he was imprisoned.

Then, there is an attack on Yahoo for disclosing his information.

I wonder, if it is known that Terrorist organizations are using Yahoo emails to exchange and coordinate terrorist activities, and the Deparment of Homeland Security request Yahoo email to release information that would lead them to arrest of such terrorists, should Yahoo comply?

I hope that the answer from such supporters is NO. Yahoo should not comply with government request irregardless of who the enemy is.

I am saying this, because the people who criticize Yahoo should not practice double standards. It would be double standard to criticize Yahoo for releasing information that would lead to the arrest of someone considered to be a national security risk for China, but to say it would be OK for Yahoo to do so if the enemy is Al-Qaeda, a national security risk for USA.