The Chinese market is expanding at a tremendous rate and all of the companies involved are willing to sell their basic humanity for one more dollar or yuan. They are well aware of the fact that China does not need their companies in particular, so if it a choice between human life and profit... well, it is obvious what Yahoo! has chosen.

Rupert, South Thomaston, Maine

Yahoo is an international company, it is ridiculous to say that Yahoo shouldn't enter the Chinese market. Should China stop making our clothes because we are funding a regime that doesn't have all the same laws and regs that we do? China doesn't have the same laws, and we need to understand that. If a US citizen was threatening 9-11 type attacks and writing on the Internet, I do believe Yahoo would have to indulge the same information to the US government.

The dissidents had "assumed the risk of harm when they chose to use Yahoo! China e-mail and engage in activity they knew violated Chinese law." This quote from the above passage is pretty self-explanatory, he knew the risk.

Chan, Chicago, IL

Regardless of Yahoo's protestations one thing is perfectly clear: I f you wish to exercise the right of free speech don't use Yahoo. Well I do, so I won't.

Bruce, Dublin, Ireland

A hypothetical analogy would be an American corporation doing business in Germany in the late 1930's, prior to the unexpected outbreak of war, divulging the names and locations of Jews as a strategy to continue largely unhampered and profitable business operations. Betraying innocents to ruthless thugs, even if they happen to be "officials" with the power to issue licenses or permissions, is a morally heinous "policy" regardless of the jurisdiction or country where a company or organization might be be operating. The old saying that some people will do anything to make money is, apparently, true.

Marc, Grantsburg,

Yahoo! is required to obey the law in whatever country it is working in. If the US requested information about a Yahoo! subscriber in an investigation of kidnapping or child molestation none of you would complain that Yahoo! obeted the law here. If you have a problem with China's human rights policy then ask your senators and reps and white house why they are still a prefered trade partner. Don't blame Yahoo! for Cina's policies. Blame Yahoo! for doing bussiness in China, but not for this.

Chris, Windsor, CO

I'm hearing some sort of deja vu echo ... from the Nuremberg War Trials ... "We were just following orders ... Everything we did was perfectly legal ... What else could we do? ... It was others who did those terrible things ..."

They're right, of course. Yahoo didn't torture anyone. They just gave the names of the torture victims to the Chinese government. What else could they do? It was perfectly legal. They were just following orders.

Bob Merkin, Northampton , Massachusetts USA

Whatever legal president Yahoo is trying to establish by stating, "it's only obeying the law" of China, a long known and notorious human rights abuser, is at best a cynical justification meant to prop up their revenue stream. If Yahoo can't live up to the standards of the democracy it is based in, because they are subject to the scrutiny of authorities in a country which provides them with a customer base and target audience, I would suggest that being found in violation of our laws, wherever it occurs, is simply the cost of doing business with less scrupulous countries.

Will, Mt. Pleasant, MI

When is Corporate America going to get off the fence and do the right thing. We're justifying wars in other countries by saying that we're fighting for freedom. Yet big corporations are still only worried about their pocketbook.

Yahoo! said. "Every sovereign nation has a right to regulate speech within its borders." How can Yahoo justify this statement? I mean please... either you're for doing the right thing or our simply out to make a buck.

Andrew, Madisonville, KY

Yahoo! or any other company must respect the basics of human rights that have been defined by the U.N.

Jane Doe, SCLA, California

I was just following orders... the Nuremberg Defense...

Sully, Edinburg, Scotland

So Yahoo "Vas just followink orders"?

Mike, ithaca, usa

Sounds like a Nazi concentration camp guard kind of excuse.

Dom , Manama, Bahrain

'the company said it had "no control over the sovereign Government of the People's Republic of China, the laws it passes and the manner in which it enforces its laws."'

But it had every control over its decision to enter the Chinese market in the first place? If duties to shareholders would prevent this, then company law needs big reforms. At the least they could have put big warnings to Chinese users on its site that it would pass on their emails to the authorities if requested?

Saph, London,

how convinient for Yahoo to deny resposibilty in the name of making money in a dictatorial regime at any cost including human lives. Those of you out there who are using yahoo email or as a portal rebel in the name of dignity. They will sell your mother if that paid them money. it's blood money that makes them no different then the slave traders of old who for a buck separated families and loved ones so they could line there pockets with cash. People let YAhoo and the like know that they can not do bussiness with the devil and claim they are not resposible for what the devil does. Once they violated privacy of Wang Xiaoning then your privacy that is stored on there servers is up for grabs also since you don't know at what point they will reveal yours to the hghest bidder be it China or CIA. O ye assisting in torture denial is made for the stupid. it's like saying "ye Yahoo knowingly sold the ax to whack my family to the Chineese but of course they are not resposible for the killing"

phi, Skokie, USA/IL