From RConversation:
The Human Rights Watch report, “Race to the Bottom: Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship,” is finally out. The exhaustive legal and editorial review process lasted nearly two months – followed in the past few days by frantic last-minute changes and revisions because, of course, things change weekly on the Internet and some techincal analysis had to be fixed.
The report focuses specifically on the role played by Western Internet companies in collaborating with Chinese government censorship. The roles of Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, and Skype are singled out, but the issues certainly apply to a much broader range of global Internet and wireless companies operating in China. There are specific recommendations for a corporate code of conduct and for legislation. [Full Text]
UPDATE (8/11/06): To access the report from China, including a Chinese version of the press release, see here, here or here. See also this article from Business Week about the report.
See a video of Rebecca MacKinnon discussing Google’s role in China on The Digital Age, via Google Video. On a related topic, see “Proposal targets Web firms who cooperate with China” from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
