Jammie Thomas was devastated by RIAA by making copyrighted songs available for others to download. They traced her via an IP address. Her service provider betrayed her by linking the IP address with her real identity and provided this link to RIAA.
Yahoo betrayed Shi Tao and devastated him no less drastically than Ms. Thomas. Like Ms. Thomas’s service provider, Yahoo did so in compliance to the laws. Only that Yahoo complied to China law, instead of US. For that, Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo, received tongue-lashing from Congressman Tom Lantos as a “moral pigmy.”
Companies violated US laws all the time: minimum wages, maximum working hours, accounting principles, environmental protection, working conditions (OSHA regulations), etc. It is OK to do so outside of US soil and be in compliance with laws. Yahoo did not even violate any US law, only a value system and an ideology. This theater, therefore, is to send a message to China government, “We don’t like how you govern.”
Jerry Yang and Li Tao’s family are merely political props.