Here’s another really interesting and important story (with a local connection) getting eclipsed right now: Yahoo! sued over torture of Chinese dissident. Snip:
A Chinese political prisoner sued Yahoo! in a US federal court, accusing the internet company of helping the Chinese government torture him by providing information that led to his arrest.
The suit, filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, is believed to be the first of its kind made against an American internet company.
Wang Xiaoning, who is serving a 10-year sentence in China, and his wife, Yu Ling, who is currently in San Francisco, are seeking damages and an injunction barring Yahoo! from identifying political opponents to the Chinese authorities.
Mr Wang was arrested after distributing online articles calling for democratic reform and a multiparty system in China via Yahoo! sites in 2000 and 2001. His suit contends that Yahoo!’s Honk Kong office provided police in China with information that linked him to the postings. Mr Wang was arrested in September 2002 and says he was beaten while in detention.
Link.