August 5th, 2008
On eve of Olympics, Internet companies agree to code of conduct
Internet companies have reached agreement on a voluntary code of conduct for doing business in China and other repressive countries, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced yesterday.
“I commend Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and other participants for agreeing on the principles of an internet freedom code of conduct,” Durbin said in a statement. “This code of conduct would be one important step toward our shared goals of promoting freedom of expression and protecting the privacy of internet users around the world. I look forward to learning more about the details this agreement and whether it will adequately regulate American companies operating in internet-restricting countries.”
He called on Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other players to “resist censorship and protect user privacy and freedom of expression, especially with the Olympics beginning in China later this week.”
According to EFF’s Danny O’Brien, the negotiations were jumpstarted by the February 2006 hearings where the late U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) “excoriated a who’s who of tech companies - including Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Google - for cooperating with Chinese government policies on censorship,” the San Francisco Chronicle puts it.
Amy O’Meara at Amnesty International USA also challenged the companies to stop cooperating with repression, the LA Times reports.
“Censorship is still rampant, dissidents are still being arrested and held in detention and none of the companies have announced changes in their operating procedures or policies which would change either of those facts,” she said.
Google deputy general counsel Nicole Wong wrote a letter to Durbin Friday, committing to “”transparency about speech restrictions and to carefully implemented protections for user data.”
Yahoo said in its letter it had set up a human rights fund to provide assistance to political dissidents and their families, and that CEO Jerry Yang had appealed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to increase diplomatic efforts to ensure open access to the Internet, the Times said.
The companies and NGOs are reviewing the principles and enforcement details of the agreement before giving final approval.
