• San Jose Mercury News, Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11 AM

Yahoo on Tuesday settled a lawsuit brought against it by two Chinese journalists who were imprisoned after the company handed over information about their pro-democracy activities on Yahoo's sites. The Chinese writers had accused Yahoo of being complicit in their wrongful arrest for exercising free speech on the Web.

The settlement is an interesting development considering that most lawyers thought the Chinese pair really had no case against Yahoo. Last week, the Web giant received a high-profile tongue lashing in a public hearing conducted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the company's activities in China, which included handing over private information to help the Chinese government make arrests.

The settlement was driven by the personal involvement of Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. Yang saw the matter as a human rights issue more than a legal issue, which is why he agreed to the settlement. Yang himself is an immigrant from Taiwan. As part of the settlement, Yahoo will also set up a Human Rights Fund to provide legal and financial aid to those who have been imprisoned for expressing their views online.

Read the whole story at San Jose Mercury News »