China was traditionally known for its rampant piracy, but is now suddenly becoming a strong copyright protection advocate with the rise of a new generation of video site operators looking to protect their intellectual property. In the latest twist of this new and somewhat unexpected trend, Internet TV operator LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) has successfully sued fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi for copyright violations related to Xiaomi’s problem-plagued Internet TV set-top boxes. Read Full Post…
Search Results for: video lawsuit
News Digest: July 1, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- Sex Video New Twist In GSK (London: GSK) China Bribery Scandal (English article)
- LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) Wins Piracy Lawsuit Against Xiaomi Box (Chinese article)
- WeChat Accounts for 10 Pct Of JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Book Sales (English article)
- Mobile Game Maker Ourgame (HKEx: 6899) Drops 17 Pct On Trading Debut (Chinese article)
- Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Seeks Managers For Stores In 6 New Chinese Cities (English article)
QVOD, Shenzhen Govt Face Off Over Record Fine
An exciting showdown that could become a landmark case in copyright protection is shaping up in Shenzhen, where a company accused of rampant piracy is refusing to pay a record fine formally levied this week by the city government. I first wrote about the massive 260 million yuan ($42 million) fine against video sharing site QVOD, whose Chinese name is kuaibo, about a month ago when the record-breaking sum was first announced. (previous post) Now Shenzhen has formally levied the fine, and QVOD has refused to pay and is threatening to take its own legal action. Read Full Post…
Weibo: Qihoo’s Zhou Hunts Cheetah, Baidu; Techies Hype Huawei P7
Qihoo 360’s (NYSE: QIHU) controversial founder Zhou Hongyi was buzzing through the microblogging realm this week, attacking online search archrival Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) in one instance as he was accused by a former employee in another case of attacking Cheetah Mobile (NYSE: CMCM), a rival in the security software business. Meantime, telecoms giant Huawei was generating some rare upbeat buzz for its latest smartphone, the P7, getting several high-profile tech executives to hype the model in what looks like a page from the playbook of marketing-savvy smartphone rival Xiaomi. Read Full Post…
Weibo: TCL, ZTE On Road Trips; Ominous Kudo For Sina Weibo
Two of China’s top tech executives were on the road last week, with ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and TCL (Shenzhen: 000100) officials making overseas visits that could hint at their future directions. Meantime, congratulations were pouring in from around the tech world for Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) on its IPO for (Nasdaq: WB), which struggled to find an audience among big investors but then managed to make a respectable trading debut. Such kudos aren’t unexpected for the popular microblogging platform, often called the Twitter of China. But one particular message from controversial tech titan and Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Zhou Hongyi looked just slightly ominous to me, even though the message itself was purely congratulatory. Read Full Post…
LeTV Plans Global Steps Into HK, US
Hong Kong is quickly emerging as the preferred starting point for China’s tech companies eager to move outside their home market, with word that video sharing operator LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) is planning a service launch in the former British colony later this year. Such a move would make LeTV the first of China’s online video and Internet TV firms to test out an overseas market. If the reports are true, LeTV could discover the outside world offers some interesting opportunities, but also major challenges as it goes head-to-head with local players and also global giants like YouTube and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Read Full Post…
Weibo: Tech Execs Trash CCTV Consumer Rights Show
Where were you this past Saturday night? Most of us probably spent the evening having dinner out, or perhaps visiting friends. But for many of China’s tech executives, the date of March 15 has become for nervousness due to CCTV’s annual investigative reports broadcast that evening for Consumer Rights Day. The program often targets high-profile brands in its effort to uncover abusive business practices, and many of those names come from the tech sector. But this year’s program was a relative disappointment, with some observers cynically noting on their microblogs that CCTV seemed more interested in generating advertising revenue than protecting consumers. Read Full Post…
Baidu’s Search Zooms On, Seeks Xiaomi Spirit
Search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) may be rapidly yielding market share to 2 up-and-coming rivals, even as its latest results show it’s still king of the hill when it comes to getting revenue from online advertisers. But the company is still searching for new innovation, with word that charismatic Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun came to speak at an internal event this week as Baidu seeks to rekindle its own “wolf spirit”. Baidu’s quest to become more diversified and has moved into high gear with a spree of major acquisitions over the last year in a wide range of areas. Still, its latest results, while impressive, show just how heavily dependent the company remains on online advertisers. Read Full Post…
Baidu Cranks Up Anti-Piracy Campaign
Just days after announcing a new acquisition designed partly to rid its various sites of piracy, leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has removed all pirated material from one of its popular video sharing sites. The timing of this move looks quite interesting for a number of reasons, including the fact that Chinese media are saying Baidu has just been fined by Beijing for piracy violations. The move also comes just 6 weeks after Baidu was sued for piracy by China’s leading video sites, which took the action in an unusual alliance with Hollywood’s most powerful trade association. But perhaps most interesting is the fact that the US could soon release its latest list of the world’s most “notorious” piracy sites, and Baidu has no desire to see its name appear on the list. Read Full Post…
Weibo: Qualcomm, Sohu Launch Counteroffensives
Top officials from leading cellphone chip maker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) and web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) were tweeting away on their microblogs last week, in what look like efforts to counter recent negative developments for both. In the former case, one of Qualcomm’s China vice presidents, Shen Jin, was hyping the potential of both 3G and 4G in China, just as his CEO was admitting that Qualcomm has come under pressure in the market due to negative fallout from the recent Edward Snowden spying scandal. Meantime, Sohu founder Charles Zhang was talking about the importance of copyright protection, in what looks like a response to criticism of selfish motives behind Sohu’s role as a lead plaintiff in a recent copyright infringement lawsuit against online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
Suntech Shines Spotlight On State Ties
As the sun rapidly sets on former solar pioneer Suntech (OTC: STPFQ), I thought I’d take a look at the latest reports that show just how closely the company relied on state support. At the same time, another major development has seen Suntech’s shares finally de-list from New York, where they have traded since its 2005 IPO. The de-listing is something that should have happened long ago, even though investors continued to bet that Beijing would rescue Suntech ever since the company was forced into bankruptcy back in March. Read Full Post…
