Three cases involving Yahoo have been brought to the attention of the public in which they helped Chinese police ID internet users who had dissenting views. The latest occurred in the jailing of Jiang Lijun in 2003. The two other writers who have been jailed in China with the help of Yahoo are Li Zhi and Shi Tao.
The Chinese market is the second largest in the world and internet providers are having to decide if the profits that can be made in China are justified in the trading of principle. Yahoo, Google, and MSN have all co-oped with Chinese officials to either shut down sites or jail dissentients. America is based on freedom of speech and all three of those companies are AMERICAN companies. The trade off of freedom and profit is a hard line to cross. Freedom is what the internet is about (like writing a blog) and not just propaganda.
Companies that operate in China must co-op with Chinese law, and if the law (or officials of China) want American companies to limit the freedoms of the internet, than the companies should not operate in China. If we fight for freedom of speech in America, it is no good if no one else can hear it.
(UPDATE: latest occurred (CNN.com) link broken)
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