Internet Companies Agree on China Code of Conduct

(Reuters) – U.S.technology giants Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Yahoo Inc, in talkswith other Internet companies and human-rights groups, have reached anagreement on a voluntary code of conduct for activities in China andother restrictive countries, the Wall Street Journal reported onTuesday.

In separate letters sent to Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, andRepublican Senator Tom Coburn, the companies said the code’s detailswere being worked out, the paper reported.

Senators Durbin and Coburn had asked for an update out of concernthat without such a code, Internet companies could be pressured byChina’s government to provide information about Internet users who arein China for the Olympics, the paper said.

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft did not immediately return calls seekingcomment. The voluntary code will spell out "principles of freedom ofexpression and privacy" in countries where governments seek users’private information or block access to certain websites, the papersaid, citing the letters.

The code will be completed later this year, the paper reported.

(Reporting by Tenzin Pema in Bangalore, editing by Will Waterman)