A massive legal campaign against malicious software launched by
a grass-roots, anti-hooligan software federation on Friday suffered
its first blow as a Beijing court ruled in favor of the software
provider.
Dong Haiping, leader of the federation, accused Alibaba of
forcing the installation of search software Yahoo! Assistant onto
his computer when he visited the website of an Alibaba subsidiary,
Yahoo! China, in August.
The software could not be removed completely and caused the
collapse of his computer's hard disk, Dong claimed. He also said
traces of the program remained on his computer after he tried to
remove it.
But the verdict passed down on Friday by Chaoyang District
People's Court said Dong failed to prove it was Yahoo! Assistant
that damaged his hard disk.
The verdict indicated the breakdown of Dong's computer might
have been caused by the use of pirated software, which conflicted
with Yahoo! Assistant.
This was the country's first verdict passed down after Dong's
federation filed six lawsuits since this September against major
Internet search engines including Yahoo! China and Zhougsou.com for
using hooligan software.
Hooligan software generally includes such things as pop-up
adverts, spyware (which can steal a user's personal information),
trackware (which can find out where a user lives and works), and
malicious software that may infect a user's computer with a
virus.
Li Jun, a lawyer with the defendant, applauded the verdict,
saying Yahoo! Assistant is safe software that can be removed and
installed in accordance with users' wishes.
But Huang Jinshen, a lawyer with the plaintiff, refuted Li's
statement, saying Alibaba modified the function of Yahoo! Assistant
in September to be more user-friendly.
"But that doesn't mean Alibaba should not be blamed for its
previous misconduct," Huang said.
According to Huang, the verdict was within expectations as the
country lacks relevant laws defining hooligan software and
protecting Internet users.
"But we will surely prepare more proof and appeal to the
intermediate people's court," the lawyer said.
According to Huang, the goal of the legal campaign goes beyond
winning the lawsuit, but promoting wider social recognition and
facilitating the establishment of related laws.
Huang said this verdict would not influence other ongoing cases,
noting it is the "judge that decides the fate of the case."
There are five other related lawsuits in proceedings. The
federation has refused out-of-court settlements because doing so
would disappoint millions of Internet users, according to
Huang.
The current verdict has already upset some Internet users.
"It is so out of expectation," said Wang Xiongjun, a student at
Peking University. "Besides hardware damage, what about our mental
suffering to see the software pop up every time? Who will
compensate for that?"
The Internet Society of China has recently drafted a standard to
categorize hooligan software, which is now posted on its official
website, www.isc.org.cn, to solicit public opinion.
"The rule has generally included all features of hooligan
software, but we are not confident of its feasibility in regulating
the industry," said Huang. "It is only an industry regulation, not
a State-approved law. It cannot serve as legal reference while
filing a lawsuit."
(China Daily November 18, 2006)