Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Set Common Voice Abroad
- From: Sefirot <Kotyto@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:42:15 -0700 (PDT)
* OCTOBER 28, 2008
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Set Common Voice Abroad
Principles Aim to Define Conduct With Nations That Restrict Speech,
Lack Privacy Protections and Censor Search Results
By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO - WSJ
Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will announce Tuesday that
they have agreed to a common set of principles for how to do business
in nations that restrict free speech and expression, as the companies
seek to combat criticism that they have helped enable censorship in
those countries.
Under the new principles, which were crafted over two years, the
technology titans promise to protect the personal information of their
users wherever they do business and to "narrowly interpret and
implement government demands that compromise privacy," according to
the code. They also commit to scrutinizing a country's track record of
jeopardizing personal information and freedom of expression before
launching new businesses in a country and to discussing the risks
widely with their executives and board members.
The document -- introduced under an entity known as the Global Network
Initiative -- was crafted by a group of participants including human
rights groups like Human Rights First and Committee to Protect
Journalists. Nonprofits the Center for Democracy and Technology and
Business for Social Responsibility also participated. The companies
agreed to have their compliance with the new principles monitored by
independent experts.
"Common action by these diverse groups is more likely to bring about
change in government policy than the efforts of any one company or
group acting alone," said Robert Boorstin, director of corporate and
policy communications at Google."
At least one human rights organization that didn't sign onto the plan
said it doesn't go far enough. "More serious questions have to be
asked about these company's legal obligations," said Morton Sklar,
executive director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA. For
instance, he said he would have liked the document to address whether
Internet companies are violating U.S. or international laws by
complying with requests from certain governments.
The plan has yet to receive the support of Internet companies in China
and other countries whose policies it implicitly attacks. A spokesman
for Internet giant eBay Inc. said the company has yet to see the plan
but would "like to learn more about it and hear more of the details."
The new code comes after leading Web companies have come under fire
from Congress and shareholders for turning over personal information
to governments that lack well-established privacy protections. Yahoo,
for instance, faced questioning by Congress last year for turning over
emails that led to the imprisonment of Chinese dissidents. In a
statement, Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang called the new principles
"a valuable roadmap" that will help ensure that technology and the
Internet continue to help "improve people's lives".
Google executives have also drawn criticism for censoring their search
results in China. Earlier this year, Canadian researchers uncovered
that a Skype joint venture in China had been monitoring its users'
communications, prompting Skype, owned by eBay Inc, to apologize for
the breach
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have maintained their legal obligation to
abide by a country's local laws. The new code doesn't fundamentally
change that approach because it acknowledges that companies still must
obey local laws in the countries where they operate. It also stops
short of stipulating some specific behaviors to avoid ethically
challenging situations, such as hosting servers in countries without
restrictions. But the companies promise to resist government demands
to the greatest extent possible and to carefully assess the human
rights impact of their decisions.
—Geoffrey A. Fowler and Christopher Lawton contributed to this article.
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