On Feb 11, 2006, at 10:54 AM, frank theriault wrote:
Paul said (I think I'm accurate in my paraphrasing here) that, yes, the Chinese gov't is evil and wrong, but that Yahoo had to play along with them in order to service that market, and that Yahoo was not morally on the hook for the above situation. I merely pointed out that Yahoo did indeed have a choice. Choosing not to provide such information would certainly have resulted in Yahoo losing access to that vast market, and Yahoo chose profits over humanity. Whether Yahoo was right or wrong in that choice is a decision that each person must make for themselves; I've already made it clear what I think.
If Yahoo had been around back then, they would have chosen to work with Hitler and spy on Jews and help load up the trains to Dachau. The "if I don't do it, someone else will" defense didn't work then, and it doesn't work now. What they are doing is a crime against humanity, and I hope they are made to face up to that.
Remember when some American companies were charged with paying bribes to foreign officials to secure contracts? Their defense was, "But everybody else does it." That didn't fly, and they were held to account. American moral values must not stop at our borders.
Bob
