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Reporters Without Borders / Internet Freedom desk
Monday, November 7, 2005.
Concerned by allegations that some U.S. companies
in the Internet sector are cooperating with
authoritarian governments to censor speech and
imprison dissidents, and by recent revelations of
the role allegedly played by Yahoo! in the prison
sentencing of a Chinese journalist,
A group of 25 investment managers, research
houses, foundations, and religious investors have
called on Internet businesses to publicly state
support for freedom of expression world wide and
agreed to monitor operations of Internet
businesses in repressive regime countries.
Following Reporters Without Borders' lead, 25
North American, European, and Australian
investment funds and other organizations, who
collectively represent over 21 billion dollars
under management, have endorsed a joint statement
in which they affirm their commitment to freedom
of expression on the Internet, and in which they
agree, among other things, to monitor business
practices being implemented in repressive
countries by Internet-sector companies.
At the press conference, the two firms that have
supported Reporters Without Borders' joint
statement from the start - Boston Common Asset
Management, LLC and Domini Social Investments
LLC, will explain why their respective
institutions are committed to the principles of
the declaration and the business risks that face
IT sector companies that collaborate to suppress
freedom of opinion and expression. They will also
discuss some of the concrete implications of this
statement.
For the first time in the United States, Lu Kun,
the wife of Chinese cyberdissident Yang Zili,
will attest to the fate awaiting dissident
Internet users and website managers in her
country. In May 2003, her husband was sentenced
to 8 years in prison for creating an Internet
website advocating democracy - a case reminiscent
of the one involving Shi Tao, who received a 10
year prison sentence in April for posting data
considered to be a "State secret" on an Internet
website based in the US. The Chinese police
managed to identify the journalist based on
information provided by the Internet server
hosting his e-mail account: Yahoo !
The text of the investor statement will be
distributed at the press conference, together
with the complete list of co-signers.
Guest Speakers:
- Dawn Wolfe, Social Research and Advocacy
Analyst, Boston Common Asset Management, LLC;
- Adam M. Kanzer, Director of Shareholder
Advocacy, Domini Social Investments LLC;
- Lu Kun, the wife of imprisoned cyberdissident Yang Zili
- Julien Pain, Head of the Internet Freedom Desk, Reporters Without
Borders.
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