Qingdao Unicom, Tsingtao Osun Fined for Baidu Traffic Hijacking
Caixun, 9/11/09
Qingdao Intermediate People's Court has found Qingdao Unicom and Tsingtao Osun Network Technique (operators of Qingdao portal http://www.og.com.cn/) guilty of hijacking Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) search traffic destined for other websites, sentencing the two companies to pay hundreds of thousands of RMB in fines and issue public apologies. This is the first time a telecom operator has been found guilty of hijacking Internet traffic.
In February 2009, Qingdao Unicom Internet users reported that they were redirected to an advertisement webpage for approximately 10 seconds when searching Baidu, only to be redirected to the relevant Baidu results page after the ad was finished. When users asked Baidu about the matter, Baidu said it offered no such advertising service. Further investigation found that Tsingtao Osun has inserted the advertisement in order to hijack Baidu user traffic in the Qingdao area, clearly constituting IPR infringement and improper competition. As the operator of the only affected network, Qingdao Unicom also shared liability. Baidu declined to comment on the matter.
Keywords: Tsingtao Osun China Unicom Qingdao Intermediate People's Court Internet IPR infringement portal telecom Baidu Qingdao Unicom BIDU law penalty 0762.HK 600050.SH CHU
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