Microsoft alters policy on blog shutdowns

SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. is tightening its policies regarding shutting down Web journals after its much-publicized shutdown of a well-known Chinese blogger at that government’s request.

The Redmond software company, which operates a popular blogging technology called MSN Spaces, said Tuesday that the changes will include efforts to make the banned content available to users elsewhere in the world even if Microsoft decides it has a legal duty to block it in a particular country.

The company also pledged to provide users with a clear notice that it has shut down a Web site because it received a legally binding notice that the material violates local laws. Previously, it has simply said the content was unavailable.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s top lawyer, said in an interview that it will depend on the circumstances of the shutdown as to whether the new policy means that an archive of the blog will remain available elsewhere, or that the Web blog’s author will be able to continue posting information to users outside the country that ordered the blockage.

MSN Spaces, which allows users to post journals, pictures and other content on the Internet, boasts 35 million users, including 3.3 million in China.

Late last year, Microsoft shut down the site of a popular Chinese blogger at the government’s request. The blog, written under the pen name An Ti by Zhao Jing, touch on sensitive topics such as China’s relations with Taiwan and press freedoms in China.

Microsoft rivals, including Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., also have grappled with — and received criticism — for how they censor their offerings in foreign countries.

Google said last week that it would filter sensitive topics from Web searches in China. Yahoo came under fire last year after it provided the government with the e-mail account information of a Chinese journalist who was later convicted for violating state secrecy laws.