Another Capitulation in China

Agence France Presse reports yet another cave-in by American corporations involved in China's Internet:

US Internet giants Yahoo and MSN confirmed Friday they had signed a code of conduct for their blogging operations in China that committed them to protecting the interests of the Chinese state.

Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN, and other blog providers in China this week signed the "self-discipline" pact, under which they pledged to "safeguard state and public interests," according to a statement from the China Internet Society.

The pact "encourages" the Internet firms to register the real names, addresses, and other personal details of the bloggers, and then keep this information.

The firms also committed to delete any "illegal or bad messages," according to a copy of the pact posted on the society's Web site.

Along with sex and violence, China's communist rulers have also deemed that opinions critical of it or the spreading of democratic ideology are not allowed.

(Emphasis added-DD)


PC World has more on this story. According to their account, Microsoft regards the pact as a set of "recommendations", not all of which they agree with or have to abide by. We'll see if Microsoft shows any willingness to stand up to Chinese authorities.