Asia - Europe Business

MIIT Adjusts Telecom License Rules

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will half capital requirements for companies applying for basic telecom business licenses from RMB 200 million to RMB 100 million for regional companies and from RMB 2 billion to RMB 1 billion for nationwide companies effective April 10, reports Beijing Times. April regulations will also stipulate fines of RMB 5,000 to RMB 30,000 for companies gaining any telecom business operating license by inappropriate means, including fraud and/or corruption, along with a three-year freeze on license application.

Lisa

Noah Loses Copyright Lawsuit To Ren'ai Publishing

Shenzhen-based electronic dictionary and mobile learning device maker Noah Education Holdings Ltd. has been ordered to pay RMB 150,000 in a copyrights lawsuit brought by Beijing Ren'ai Publishing Company. Ren'ai Publishing sued Noah for RMB 500,000 for providing unauthorized teaching material downloads on Noah's website. The downloads were available to Noah product purchasers.

Lisa

Online Games Added To Regulatory Platform

The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) plans to use its online copyright inspection platform to monitor the online game industry. The NCAC would begin trial operation of the platform in June in cooperation with other governmental bodies. Initial reports said the platform would focus on online video site regulation for 2008.

Lisa

Sohu Loses Movie Download Lawsuit

Sohu was ordered by Beijing First Intermediate People's Court on December 27 to pay a total of 1 million Yuan in compensation to 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Columbia, Universal and New Line. Sohu provided paid downloads of ten movies owned by the five film companies without permission. Sohu opened the movie download channel in 2004 but has already shut down the channel. Sohu was involved in another illegal movie download lawsuit in September. Broadband film provider Beijing Jin Hu Dong Company, who provided illegal downloads of movie "Wei Qing Xue Ye" for Sohu, was requested to pay 200,000 Yuan in compensation to film copyright owner Beijing Forbidden City Film Company. Sohu stopped providing downloads and video-on-demand (VOD) of that movie.

Lisa

Yunnan's First SMS Fraud Case Concludes

Kunming Panlong District People's Court concluded Yunnan's first SMS fraud case recently, reports Spring City Evening. Four people cheated mobile phone users out of 750,000 Yuan in one month by sending fake SMS messages to users asking them to send money for various fictitious reasons. The four defendants were sentenced to 5 to 14 years in prison and were fined from 8,000 Yuan to 40,000 Yuan.

Lisa

Acorn International Could Face Lawsuit Over Product in August

TV home shopping network Acorn International has appealed to a Beijing court to dismiss a false advertising lawsuit being filed against the company. Hebei resident Li Lun claims that an Acorn-produced ad for a video player that aired on CCTV falsely represented the product, which he purchased. Li sued the two companies, along with the product's producer, in Beijing on May 10. Over 140 consumers that purchased the same product have contacted Li asking to join Li in his suit. The court said that it will make a decision on the case two months later, meaning the case would not open until August. Acorn is scheduled to list on Nasdaq this year and the company is currently in its silent period.

Lisa

China: New Online Copyright Protection Rules Go Into Effect

According to new regulations protecting online copyrights that went into effect on July 1, anyone caught using other's content online, including any audio or video content, for profit without permission will be fined up to 100,000 Yuan. The new regulation also includes search engines that provide links to illegal content.

Lisa

MII To Make Telecom Operators Play Fair

China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) recently released a series of key regulations for the telecommunications industry. The regulations forbid telecom operators from attacking the reputations of competitors. According to MII, local telecommunication administrations will punish local operators and agents for illegal behavior, such as forcing customers to use a particular telecom service and poaching other telecom operators' customers illegally. The new regulations also forbid telecom operators from releasing false or misleading customer service payment statements.

Lisa

Bloomberg Sues Chinese Financial Website

Bloomberg has sued the operators of Chinese financial information website www.pobo.net.cn. Bloomberg claims the website's Chinese name is too similar to Bloomberg's Chinese name. According to Bloomberg lawyer Dan Mingyue, the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Pudong court, asks for 1 million Yuan in compensation and a public apology from the website's Shanghai-based operators, Shanghai Peng Bo Internet Data Information Counting and Shanghai Peng Bo Financial Information Company Limited. A lawyer for the defendants said they registered their name at the end of 1999, long before Bloomberg registered its Chinese name in April 2003.

Lisa

China Netcom Broadband Portal Fined By China Copyright Administration

China Netcom's (NYSE: CN, 906.HK) broadband portal 116.com.cn has been fined 90,000 Yuan by National China's Copyright Administration for copyright infringment. Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA) claimed that 116 provided online viewing and downloading of movies whose copyrights are owned by MPAA-member companies without the permission of the MPAA. China's National Copyright Administration announced on February 15 that it has investigated and punished 12 copyright infringement cases recently.

Lisa