Internet Companies agree to Code of Conduct for Olympics

The big three Internet companies have agreed to a "code of conduct" in China just days before the beginning of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The 2008 summer Olympics are just a few days away in Beijing China, and in the last hours before the the Olympic Torch reaches China's capital city, the world Internet leaders, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have reached an agreement on a "code of conduct" with China as well as with other countries that effectively censors the Internet.

On Monday, Senator Dick Durbin released letters from each company advising that they each had reached agreements on core components of their principals. The principals would include promoting freedom of expression and privacy.

The specifics of the code are being reviewed by the individual organizations involved but the companies say that the principals are so clear and rigorous that restrictive governments would be unable to reject these best practices on freedom of expression that include the protection of the individual privacy.

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft worked closely with human rights groups and privacy advocates as well as with the European companies Vodafone and France Telecom starting in January of 2007. In 2006, politicians cried out against the companies for complying with China's censorship practices, especially against Yahoo for the handling of the identity of journalist Shi Tao which the company turned over to Chinese officials leading to a 10-year prison sentence for Tao.

Google specifically stated that it would not be turning over any sensitive information regarding any American journalists, athletes, or tourists who use the Internet while they are in China during the Olympics, other than is required by U.S. law.