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The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?

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House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, February 15, 2006 Hearing, The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?
Links to statements and testimony below are in PDF:

  • The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, The Honorable James A. Leach, Mr. James Keith, The Honorable David Gross, Mr. Michael Callahan (Senior VP & GC, Yahoo! – testimony in HTML), Mr. Jack Krumholtz (Microsoft), Elliot Schrage (VP, Google — note, his testimony was posted on the Official Google blog in HTML), Mr. Mark Chandler (Senior VP and GC, Cisco Systems), Ms. Libby Liu (Radio Free Asia), Mr. Xiao Qiang, Ms. Lucie Morillon (Reporters Without Borders), Mr. Harry Wu, Ms. Sharon Hom
  • Related legislation from the House, introduced February 14, 2006: Global Online Freedom Act of 2006 (26 pages, PDF)

    • Related news:

  • New York Times, House Member Criticizes Internet Companies for Practices in China: “In a crowded House hearing room, Representative Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey, unleashed a scathing condemnation of four American Internet and technology companies — Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco — for a “sickening collaboration” with the Chinese government and for “decapitating the voice of the dissidents” there.”
  • Online Firms Facing Questions About Censoring Internet Searches in China
  • AP: Congress Chides 4 Companies Over China
  • UK Times Online: Google and Yahoo face their Congressional critics
  • From Danny O’Brien, Electronic Frontier Foundation, open letter to the Committee, A Code of Conduct for Internet Companies in Authoritarian Regimes, February 15, 2006: “In considering how these companies might construct their services to best serve global human rights, we believe that simple guidelines, consciously followed, could significantly limit the damage caused by corporate engagement with these regimes…”
  • BusinessWeek.com – The Web and China: Not So Simple – Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft say they face a stark choice: Conform to Beijing’s edicts or quit the market. The truth is much more complicated
  • January-February 2006 Legal Affairs, The latest American technology helps the Chinese government and other repressive regimes clamp down, by Derek Bambauer, fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School

    • Related information on domestic surveillance that was also the topic of discussion at the above referenced hearing today:

  • Declan McCullagh reports, “Under cross-examination during a congressional hearing, Yahoo’s top lawyer refused on Wednesday to say whether the company opens its records for government surveillance without a court order.” Declan’s article includes an edited transcript of the exchange between Rep. Brad Sherman and Yahoo GC Michael Callahan on the NSA issue.
  • Also, Politicians lash out at tech firms over China, by Anne Broache and Declan McCullagh
  • Related postings on domestic surveillance

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