Following news that official Chinese court documents show Yahoo provided Chinese authorities with evidence against a jailed cyber dissident, Skype creator Niklas Zennström says its OK for Chinese partner Tom Onlineto censor text messages.

"Those are the regulations," says Zennström.

Skype, now owned by eBay, "defends this compliance as the only way to do business in China," says the Financial Times, echoing what has become the standard corporate line for doing business with the totalitarian regime.

"Niklas Zennström, Skype's chief executive, responded in a Financial Times interview, to accusations that the company had censored text messages containing words like 'Falun Gong', a banned movement, and 'Dalai Lama'," the FT continues.

"He said Tom Online, its joint venture partner in China, was complying with local law. 'Tom had implemented a text filter, which is what everyone else in that market is doing,' said Mr Zennström."

The story points out that Skye and Yahoo are far from being alone in cooperating with China.

Google and Microsoft have also criticised for working with China's censorship rules, it says, quoting Zennström as stating, "I may like or not like the laws and regulations to operate businesses in the UK or Germany or the US, but if I do business there I choose to comply with those laws and regulations."

Tom-Skype had not put users at risk.

"Yahoo has been lambasted for providing information that helped the Chinese jail two [now three] dissidents, adds the FT.

"Those things are in no way jeopardising the privacy or the security of any of the users," said Mr Zennström.

Chinese leader Hu Jintao, on a state visit to the US, broke bread with Microsoft boss Bill Gates at the later's luxury home.

Also See:
jailed cyber dissident - Yahoo: new China scandal, April 20, 2006
says its OK - Skype/Tom censor messages, April 20, 2006
Financial Times - Skype says texts censored by China, April 19, 2006
broke bread - Gates, Hu: mutual admiration, April 19, 2006

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