Yahoo Spouts First Amendment Doublespeak in Auction Disputes
636607
The web giant argues out of both sides of its web portal in trying to get a lawsuit by Chinese dissidents dismissed. Two years ago, the company took the opposite side in a dispute over the online auctioning of Nazi paraphernalia in France.
16102
Blog: Yahoo shareholders reject censorship, executive pay proposals, re-elect all board members at shareholder meeting
1257
Several companies have challengedÂ spectrum auction rulesÂ recently set by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, with Frontline Wireless protesting that the auction of the 700MHz band to be auctioned in January could shut out small bidders.
211660
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court rejected on Monday an effort by Yahoo Inc. to have US courts step into a battle over the sale of Nazi paraphernalia in France.
739019
The Justice Department on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to refrain from stepping into another First Amendment battle featuring federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and The New York Times.
199145
The operator of a gambling news site on the Internet has asked a federal judge to declare that advertisements in U.S. media for foreign online casinos and sports betting outlets are protected by free-speech rights.
317160
(InfoWorld) - A Chinese journalist jailed in part due to e-mail evidence provided by a Yahoo subsidiary plans to file a lawsuit in the U.S. against the Internet company within the next few months. "We're also trying to line up other victims for a class-action. We've been in touch with a few others, but we haven't signed anyone up yet. It's a very sensitive issue because there could be reprisals against their families," said Albert Ho, a legislator in Hong Kong and lawyer in the case, in a telephone interview. A Yahoo spokeswoman in Hong Kong could not be reached for comment. A U.S.Â civil suit against YahooÂ on behalf of Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist convicted of "divulging state secrets" by Beijing in partÂ due to an e-mail Yahoo providedÂ to Chinese authorities, will likely be filed in either New York or California, Ho said. Tao's e-mail, sent from a Yahoo account in April, 2004 to a pro-China democracy Web site in New York, contained a Beijing order for officials to be on guard for unrest and dissident activity ahead of the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The new lawsuit would come just months after Ho filed a complaint to Hong Kong authorities against Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) on behalf of Tao. It also comes at a time whenÂ international pressure is increasingÂ on Internet companies to handle the private data of their users more carefully, particularly with respect to human rights. Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders have both criticized Yahoo over the Tao incident, and a group of U.S. lawmakersÂ blasted a group of Internet companiesÂ earlier this year, including Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems, for failing to uphold free expression in China. "Internet companies should not disclose personal information that could violate the basic human rights of their users," Ho said. He said Tao, who is not a U.S. citizen, could file a lawsuit in the country under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789. The group has not yet decided on a U.S. law firm to retain for the case, nor would Ho divulge the specific strategy or damages the group intends to seek. The Hong Kong case remains pending because an investigation by authorities has not been finished yet, Ho said. Yahoo could face a fine, a civil lawsuit, or both if Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data rules that it illegally divulged personal data used to put Tao in jail. The plaintiffs argue that Yahoo Hong Kong had no right to comply with a request from China for Tao's personal data, and requested that the office investigate the matter. Yahoo has denied any involvement in the case by its Hong Kong arm. The company has said any information provided to Chinese authorities in this case would have come from Yahoo's operations in China, rather than Hong Kong. However, Yahoo's Chinese and Hong Kong operations were both part of the same corporate entity, Yahoo Hong Kong, at that time In 2005, Alibaba.com acquired Yahoo's Chinese operations as part of a deal that saw Yahoo take a stake in the Chinese Internet company.
434906
An Internet company that publishes information about online gambling has asked a judge to decide whether advertisements for Internet casinos are protected forms of speech.
3437
A company that sells Internet domain names is facing criticisms for holding some in reserve as a consumer-protection measure, a move that also prevents interested parties from shopping around for better prices.
148898
A human rights group in the US sues Yahoo for alleged complicity in rights abuses and acts of torture in China.
726217
Saying it was only complying with Chinese law, Yahoo wants a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by a human rights group, alleging that it provided information used by the Chinese government to imprison four dissidents.
471937
The popular online auction site raises its fees. Is it biting off more than it can chew?
672432
Some new features may give Yahoo! shareholders reason to shout.
738147
News.com: Yahoo fixed two flaws in its free mail system that could have allowed a malicious user to read a victim&#39;s browser cookies and change the appearance of some pages, Yahoo said Thursday.
312447
By Bruce Einhorn and Ben Elgin  Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft endured a wave of public disapproval earlier this year over their compliance with Chinese censorship of their websites.
616998
PARIS - Yahoo Inc. may after all find itself having to answer to the French courts for its failure to block French users' access to information about the sale of Nazi memorabilia on its U.S. Web sites.
347214
SAN JOSE, California Yahoo will likely have a tough time getting American courts to intervene in a dispute over the sale of Nazi memorabilia in France after a US appeals court ruling.