The Great Firewall of China - II

Via Wired, AP's report on the shaming of Yahoo, Google, Cisco and Microsoft that took place yesterday in the House of Representatives. An excerpt:

Lawmakers blasted four U.S. tech giants Wednesday, accusing them of willingly helping China suppress dissent in return for access to a booming internet market.

Representatives from Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems. and Google defended themselves at a House International Relations subcommittee hearing, but a Google official acknowledged that figuring out China's internet market "has been a difficult exercise."

Lawmakers, however, were skeptical of what several saw as the companies' efforts to explain their business practices in China only after a recent crush of negative media and government attention.

Rep. Tom Lantos, the full committee's top Democrat, told the company officials that they had amassed great wealth and influence "but apparently very little social responsibility."

"Your abhorrent actions in China are a disgrace," Lantos said at the hearing. "I simply don't understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night."

The BBC's report is here.

See also in this blog: The Great Firewall of China