Skip the navigation
News

Yahoo sued again by Chinese dissidents

Company accused of handing over identifying information on dissidents to Chinese authorities

By Dan Nystedt
February 29, 2008 12:00 PM ET

IDG News Service - Yahoo Inc. and at least one subsidiary face their second major lawsuit by Chinese dissidents claiming the company aided Chinese authorities by handing over e-mails and other electronic communications that ended up landing one dissident in jail.

The first lawsuit ended in November after Yahoo settled with the plaintiffs out of court.

The current lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Li Zhi, Zheng Cunzhu and Guo Quan in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, seeks damages for their suffering at the hands of Chinese officials after Yahoo and Yahoo Hong Kong allegedly provided access to e-mails, e-mail records, user identification information and other data to authorities in China.

The lawsuit said the three plaintiffs have also identified at least 60 more individuals "arbitrarily imprisoned" in China for work on free elections, democracy and human rights, possibly because Yahoo handed over their Internet identification, the group said. The plaintiffs plan to make the additional cases known during the trial's discovery phase.

Yahoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Specifically, Li is suing over his torture and imprisonment by Chinese officials after his work for the China Democracy Party — a banned political group — was revealed in information Yahoo provided officials about his Internet activity, the lawsuit alleges. Li, whose case has also been championed by the journalist group Reporters Without Borders, has served more than four years of his eight-year prison sentence so far.

Reporters Without Borders said his jail term started in December 2003.

Zheng is a Chinese citizen living in California. His ties to Li were established during Li's court case, and Zheng is now allegedly unable to return to China because he fears prosecution, according to the lawsuit. He has lost investments and personal property in China, since he is unable to return home, the lawsuit said.

Guo lost his job as an associate professor at Nanjing Normal University after his Internet identity was revealed to Chinese authorities by Yahoo, the lawsuit alleged.

"By providing Internet user identification information to the People's Republic of China, [the] defendants knowingly and willfully aided and abetted in the commission of torture and other major abuses violating international law that caused plaintiffs' severe physical and mental pain and suffering," the lawsuit alleged.

The group has filed suit in the U.S. under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789, as well as unspecified additional U.S. and international laws. The use of this act for purposes of democracy and human rights is relatively new in U.S. courts, said one lawyer in Hong Kong, and a decision could go either way.

The first case against Yahoo, filed by the plaintiffs on behalf of journalists Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao, also cited the Alien Tort Claims Act. Yahoo settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

Yahoo operated its China subsidiary until it became part of Alibaba.com in return for a 40% stake in the Chinese e-commerce company in late 2005. Alibaba now runs Yahoo's China operations.

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2010 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Networking White Papers
Digital Transformation: Creating New Business Models Where Digital Meets Physical
Individuals and businesses alike are embracing the digital revolution. Social networks and digital devices are being used to engage government, businesses and civil...
Make the Connection: Better Network Connectivity Drives Transformation
Network connectivity is more than just plumbing. Leading organizations today see high-performance network connectivity as a critical enabler of competitive advantage, and not...
Virtualizing Government Infrastructure
All server virtualization solutions are not created equal. The more-with-less agenda for government agencies is tailor-made for server virtualization, which is evolving into...
Moving Service Management to SaaS
Today, organizations can enjoy similarly substantial benefi ts by migrating their IT service management functions to a software-as-a-service model. This paper shows how...
Achieving 360 Degree Network Visibility with Nimsoft
360° network visibility is critical for ensuring continuous availability of networks, servers, and applications-anything less could
have costly bottom-line implications.
All Networking White Papers
Networking Webcasts
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Unified Communications 101
What's the best way to implement a unified communications solution for your organization?
Try the OptiView® XG on your network - FREE
The OptiView® XG is the first dedicated tablet with automated network and application analysis -- fastest way to root cause. XG raises the...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
All Networking Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs