*** UPDATE 07/12/2007: Looks like Ars Technica had the same thought. ***
Check out the lastest from the AP wire:
HONG KONG (AP) -- China should not punish people for expressing their political views on the Internet, Yahoo Inc. said Monday, a day after the mother of a Chinese reporter announced she was suing the U.S. company for helping officials imprison her son.
Yahoo criticized China in a brief statement that didn't specifically mention the case of jailed journalist Shi Tao, whose mother visited Hong Kong on Sunday. Shi was sentenced to 10 years in 2005 after sending an e-mail about Chinese media restrictions.
The company has acknowledged sharing information about Shi with Chinese authorities.
"Yahoo is dismayed that citizens in China have been imprisoned for expressing their political views on the Internet," the company said in the statement faxed to The Associated Press, which asked Yahoo to comment on Shi's lawsuit.
Well... so... so you say that sucks, but you're still playing ball with them. Hmm.
I don't mean to belittle Yahoo's move here. It's huge that they came forward with a statement like this. Good for them!
Still, does this mean that they won't be, oh I don't know... handing China ammunition to jail anybody who expresses a point of view? They're not actually saying that, are they? No, they're just saying that freedom is good... and then quietly crushing it.
I mean, we'll see. Let's give them a chance. This might be a sign of things to come. Either that, or it's a total shell game to get the public to forget that Yahoo would sell them out in a heartbeat.