Five Internet Firms Threaten to Join Qihoo 360 Boycott
Beijing Evening News, 11/05/10
Chinese internet companies Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Kingsoft (3888.HK), Sohu's (Nasdaq: SOHU) search engine Sogou, image software maker Keniu and browser developer Maxthon today announced that their products will also cease to be compatible with those of Chinese online security software developer Qihoo 360 if it does not make amends.
Chinese anti-virus software firm Rising said it has discovered that Qihoo 360's "Koukou Guard" QQ privacy software has at least four backdoors accessible to Qihoo 360. Qihoo 360 denied the existence of any such backdoors.
When asked whether client software would be automatically uninstalled or users would be asked to choose between products, Fu Sheng, CEO of Conew, said that first users will be informed about the situation while specific technological solutions to render Conew software incompatible are being developed. The process will fully take users' feelings into account.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)'s China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) said MIIT has officially begun an investigation into the dispute between Tencent (0700.HK) and Qihoo 360. CATR will convene a meeting of various experts to discuss the situation.
Yesterday evening, Qihoo 360 issued a public statement, saying that government authorities had intervened in the situation and the two companies' software products are now fully compatible. Tencent, however, disputed Qihoo 360's claim, declaring that it will still deploy measures to render QQ incompatible and it is not willing to compromise.
Editor's Note: Sina Tech has reported that the five companies held a press conference this morning to declare their client software products will be rendered incompatible with those of Qihoo 360. However, Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan did not attend due to illness, and Charles Zhang, CEO of Sogou's parent company Sohu, said Sogou is not part of any such plans. Later, on his microblog, Wang concurred with Zhang, saying that Sogou could not compel users to take such drastic actions.
Keywords: Charles Zhang Fu Sheng Wang Xiaochuan Kingsoft Internet security Baidu Sogou Tencent QQ CATR MIIT anti-virus client software Maxthon Sohu 0700.HK 3888.HK BIDU Rising Conew Qihoo 360
Sending
