Yahoo executive apologizes to US lawmakers over Chinese journalist incident

Yahoo executive apologizes to US lawmakers over Chinese journalist incident

Dow Jones Newswires.
Corey Boles
Nov. 2, 2007

So apparently Yahoo released some information to the Chinese government about a Chinese journalist. The information led to the imprisonment of the journalist for 10 years for divulging state secrets. This article does not go into specifics but it seems as though the information must have somehow been posted or sent through one of Yahoo's services. It also seems as though Yahoo new why the Chinese government was requesting the info and Yahoo still gave it to them. Needless to say, the US government was not happy with Yahoo.

This issue of cyber law is quite confusing and raises some serious questions. First of all, did Yahoo have the right to release the information at all or was there some type of privacy agreement that they would have violated for releasing the information? Also, does the Chinese government have the right to request the info (through a subpoena or some other means) if Yahoo partially operates in China and this posting or event in question occurred in China? If not, how was Yahoo pressured into giving up this information. Cyber law within a single country can be hard enough to govern; however, when multiple countries become involved it becomes even harder.