New York City Comptroller asks Google and Yahoo to Serve the World without Censorship

William Thompson Jr., New York City's Comptroller, has called on Google and Yahoo to recognize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' order for people in countries around the world to "receive and impart information and ideas through any media."  Using the city's Pension Funds as the grounds for shareholder resolutions he presented last week, Mr. Thompson has requested that the companies "institute policies to help protect freedom of access to the internet," including a six point set of standards to which the company should adhere in every country they service.

Talking about Mr. Thompson's move, Berkman Center Executive Director and Clinical Professor of Law John Palfrey tells the New York Sun in an article today that "the spirit of the resolution in its general thrust is right on," while noting that shareholders have the right to at the least make asks of the companies in which they're invested.  Speaking to the efforts of Google and Yahoo, Professor Palfrey says that they are "seeking to do the right thing in light of a very difficult situation."  He has in the past noted the financial and ethical dilemmas faced in the decision making processes for internet service providers as they extend service to countries in which internet censorship is pro forma.

The New York Sun article provides further background on Mr. Thompson's move, and the text for the Google and Yahoo resolutions are available at the Comptroller's site.