Chinese couple sues Yahoo for man's imprisonment

Chinese couple sues Yahoo for man's imprisonment

This is an interesting development and frankly I certainly hope the complainants win. While I understand that Yahoo probably acted in compliance to Chinese law that defense is ethically and 'morally' weak to say the least.

Quoting from the article;

“In a statement, Yahoo said it was distressed that Chinese citizens had been sent to prison for expressing their views on the Internet.

"However, the concerns raised about the Chinese government compelling companies to follow Chinese law and disclose user information are not new," it said. "Companies doing business in China must comply with Chinese law or its local employees could be faced with civil and criminal penalties."”

I think it might reasonably be said that 'American companies doing business in China (or anywhere else) must comply with American standards and practices or be faced with possible criminal and or civil penalties.'

Personally my opinion is that if you can't do business in a country without contributing to the violation of what we have defended for years and at very high cost, namely a persons right to freedom of speech and freedom from harsh and arbitrary (cruel and unusual) punishments, etc., then you, as a businessman or a company, should avoid doing business in that country or be prepared to face civil and or criminal penalties at home..

How sympathetic would you be to a company's defense for turning its Jewish employees or customers in to the Nazis as “But it was the law I had to follow to do business there.”

The opportunity of the 'great Chinese market' does not excuse assisting in the violation of basic human rights.