Posted on 01/04/2006 3:48:48 PM PST by twntaipan
Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday confirmed that it took down the blog of outspoken Chinese journalist Zhao Jing, saying that it was complying with China's laws.
Blogger Rebecca MacKinnon, a former CNN Beijing bureau chief now a research fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, first reported that Jing's blog was taken down New Years Eve by Microsoft's blog-hosting service MSN Spaces. The blog has been replaced with the message, "This space is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Zhao, aka Michael Anti, is among a number of Chinese bloggers that have grown in popularity in the Communist nation where the general media is government controlled.
China last year started tightening its control over Internet services, but has yet to launch a major crackdown on bloggers. Experts believe the government is still struggling with media control without stymieing the country's emerging Internet businesses. China is the second largest Internet market, and is growing quickly.
Microsoft said in a statement that the decision to unplug Zhao was inline with its practice of "ensuring that products and services comply with global and local laws, norms, and industry practices."
"Most countries have laws and practices that require companies providing online services to make the Internet safe for local users," the company said. "Occasionally, as in China, local laws and practices require consideration of unique elements.”
Microsoft is not the first U.S. tech company to help the Chinese government in controlling the media. Yahoo in September gave information about journalist Shi Tao's personal email account to Beijing, which later jailed him for 10 years on charges of divulging state secrets.
It's also not unusual for U.S. search engines, such as Google, Microsoft MSN, and Yahoo, to censor their Chinese-language search results at the request of the government.
Private property so Microsoft can do what it likes.
I smell a lawsuit in this. Wouldn't imposing different rules for Chinese blogs be... discriminatory? The only law US-based services need pay attention to is US law, period.
But if there is significant blowback from democracy and freedom lovers, M$ has no one but themselves to blame.
Bump for future reference the next time I'm in a thread with one of the "Linux is a Chicom plot to destroy America" guys.
ping
no guts Billy Gates
Yeah I guess he should courageously sacrifice SHAREHOLDERS harned earned money to make a point.
Microsoft is in business to make money, NOT to promote democracy.
AMEN !
> Microsoft is in business to make money, NOT to promote democracy.
Microsoft is hosted by our country. They owe allegiance to our principals.
I presume you are a libertarian.
Sun hopes that Java technology will help China's software industry reach its full potential which leading analyst firms predict could see it rival the current regional software giant, India, by 2006. Sun Microsystems is playing a central role in helping to accelerate China's software industry development by delivering tools and support that will empower Java developers including recent support for the simplified Chinese language in both the NetBeans 3.5.1 release and in its Sun ONE Studio 5, Standard Edition product.
For many years now,
Sun has made a major push
to work with China.
Yet the left-wing fringe
attacks Microsoft when they
do usual things . . .
It's unfortunate
so many Freepers accept
Microsoft bashing.
Those who sell out the US will wish they hadn't. Paybacks are a Bitch.
-----------------------------------
Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?
But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?
Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's.
And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
Luke 20:22-25
-----------------------------------
Hey. China has laws.
We have laws. It's NOT against
our laws to obey
laws in other lands.
Heck. Even Jesus allowed
obeying the law.
This isn't going to be fight with words, its going to be a fight with guns and bombs.
The Chinese are monsters and we are going to have to fight them sooner or later. Those who helped the Chinese are going to end up very dead one way or another.
PS: What does Caesar have to do with companies that are traitors in the US?
"It's also not unusual for U.S. search engines, such as Google, Microsoft MSN, and Yahoo, to censor their Chinese-language search results at the request of the government."
Big business (liberal) companies? Check. Big government in China? Check. Will liberals complain about microsoft's stiffling of free speach in China? No. They are hypocrites.
"However, you would fund that wopuld run counter to US foreign policy, which since the days of Nixon has believed that free trade is more important than promoting democracy in China."
China and the US has a free trade agreement? Not that I ever heard or read.
Trade? Yes. Free trade? Nope.
The Chinese government subsidizes part of it's industry, and when businesses over there then dump their products at below market costs, that has crossed the threshold from free trade to just trade. Big difference.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.