Microsoft denies fingering Chinese dissident who used Hotmail

Microsoft doesn't know how Chinese authorities identified Li Yuanlong, a 45-year-old journalist accused of sending illegal writings abroad using a Hotmail account, Reuters reports. Li's essays allegedly "fabricated, distorted and exaggerated facts, incited to subvert the state and sought to overthrow the socialist system."

"Based on an internal review of the information available, we have no involvement in this matter," said Brian Zhou, a representative at Microsoft China's public relations agency.

Zhou said Microsoft, which owns Hotmail, had no information as to how the Chinese government may have identified Li, who sent the e-mails last year using the pseudonyms "Night Wolf" or "Wolf Howling in the Night."

 According to Reporters Without Borders:

Li Yuanlong, who was arrested on 29 September 2005, was charged with “incitement to subversion” on 9 February 2006. The former journalist on the Bijie Daily is accused of posting a series of articles on foreign-based websites about the harsh living conditions of peasants in Guizhou province in the south-west. He has not been allowed any visits since he was placed in custody.

The organisation, Human Rights in China, said his arrest was triggered by the publication of two articles under the pen name Ye Lang (Night wolf), headlined “Becoming American in spirit” and “Of the banal nature of life and of the lamentable nature of death”.