Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail strike out Iran

"Yahoo! and Microsoft have removed Iran from the country lists of their webmail services as stronger US sanctions against the Islamic republic begin to bite.

Google has kept Iran as an option on the Gmail registration page, however.

The US administration stepped up economic pressure on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's eccentric government less than two weeks ago.

A Yahoo! spokeswoman told The Reg: "Yahoo! continually reviews its business operations to ensure compliance with these restrictions. Consistent with this policy, we cannot accept registrations from countries subject to these restrictions.

So essentially, you can't choose Iran as a country option because we are restricted from conducting business there – all US companies must comply with this policy." She was unable to tell us exactly when Yahoo! applied the rules."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/07/yahoo_google_microsft_iran/

Great way to foster the democratic opposition within a country -- cut off e-mail access to them.

"You're doing a great job, Brownie."

The rhetoric towards Israel hasn't changes in decades and was not originated by the current governemtn. There is no evidence that Iraq is killing American soldiers and the IAEA says Iran is not a threat.

Families of Chinese Dissidents Speak Out Against Yahoo

By COREY BOLES
November 7, 2007 6:03 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The families of two Chinese dissidents said they hoped a congressional hearing into Yahoo's Inc.'s role in the men's imprisonment will help spur action for their release.

Gao Qinsheng, the mother of jailed journalist Shi Tao, and Yu Lin, the wife of imprisoned cyber-dissident Wang Xiaoning, spoke passionately about Yahoo's conduct.

<snip>

Shi Tao was jailed after Yahoo China, then a unit of the company, handed information about him to Chinese authorities in 2004. Wang Xiaoning was arrested in 2002 for using a Yahoo account to advocate open elections in China, according to a House Foreign Affairs Committee spokeswoman. The company is alleged by lawmakers and human-rights groups to have cooperated with Beijing over his arrest as well.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119447233644185647.html?mod=googlenews_wsj