A lawsuit was filed against China's top Internet statistical
agency on Tuesday amid a countrywide campaign against malicious
software that allegedly hacks into personal computers and disrupts
systems.
The government-backed China Internet Network Information Center
(CNNIC) is the latest target of an online coalition against
software that spies on computers. The coalition has rallied
Internet users to take legal action against five companies
including Yahoo China and eBay Eachnet amid increasingly heated
disputes among several websites that accuse one another of
profiting from "rogue software."
The legal papers against CNNIC were submitted to a court in
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, which will decide within a
week if it will accept the case.
The plaintiff is a lawyer who has charged CNNIC with forcing the
installation of its application onto computers without informing
users beforehand. It is also difficult to uninstall the program. It
disturbs the user's life and work, according to a statement from
the Anti-rogue-software Coalition.
The lawsuit seeks 94 yuan (US$12) in compensation -- the same
amount as in the coalition's other actions. The plaintiff also
wants CNNIC to apologize to Internet users in China.
CNNIC insisted its software complies with standards set by the
Internet Engineering Task Force, the regulatory body for Internet
operations.
"We support the nationwide campaign by the coalition and the
media to fight against rogue software," CNNIC said in a
statement.
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(Shanghai Daily October 11, 2006)
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