When Capitalism, Communism and Journalism collide...

...does journalism lose?

That's a question that should be asked with the jailing of a journalist in China.

While a visit to the Reporters Without Borders Web site will tell you the imprisonment of journalists in China is nothing new, the case of Shi Tao is grabbing attention because his prosecution was apparently helped, in part, to information provided by Yahoo.

This is an interesting story to look at, for a number of reasons:

1) China is a potential gold mine for technology companies. Actually, a country with a population as high as China is a potential gold mine for any industry.

2) Yahoo could be seen as essentially being an extension of the Chinese government in the prosecution of Shi Tao. Or, are they just a private company and nothing more?

3) Could this come back to bite Yahoo in the more democratic countries they do business in?

At the very least, know about Shi Tao for this reason: While journalism on the Internet is still new and exciting, the same old censorship problems, particularly in countries where press freedom is questionable or non-existent, can and do still exist.