Jane Lai
THE Beijing-based Internet Society of China said Thursday it was in mediation to stop a monthlong catfight between two domestic IT giants to protect the rights of Internet users.
The society Thursday summoned to a meeting senior officers from Shenzhen-based Tencent, which operates China s most popular instant messenger, QQ, and Qihoo 360, China s top antivirus software provider, urging the companies to find an amicable solution to the conflict, Shi Xiansheng, aide to secretary-general of the society, said Thursday.
Millions of Internet users have fallen victim to the battle, Shi said. We are not happy with what is going on. Companies should not sacrifice the interests of customers in a competition with their peers. He did not elaborate.
Tencent, China s largest Internet firm by market capitalization, and Qihoo 360, China s top provider of free security software, have been involved in a tussle for more than a month accusing each other of bad business practices, such as spying, hacking and leaking users private details.
On Wednesday, Tencent said it was shutting down QQ on computers installed with antivirus software run by Qihoo 360.
Tencent is forcing users to choose between its QQ messaging platform, which has more than 600 million users, or Qihoo 360 s antivirus software.
We have just made a very difficult decision. We have decided that computers running 360 software will not be able to run QQ software, the firm said in a statement.
A new tag-on service run by 360 Safe has affected the normal functioning of QQ. With 360 Safe installed, we cannot guarantee the safety of our service. To avoid our customers computer desktops being turned into a battlefield, we have taken this tough decision, Tencent said in the statement popping up on the screens of millions of QQ and 360 Safe users Wednesday.
Tencent said it would not agree to a settlement with 360 unless 360 agreed to remove the privacy protector software, make an official apology and pay compensation.
Qi Xiangdong, president of 360, said the Ministry of Industry and Information and Ministry of Public Security had launched an investigation.
Qi said Tencent s retaliation was disastrous for China s Internet users because it could lead to an unprecedented outbreak of viruses, according to Xinhua.
Our 360 Safe services are eliminating about 60 million trojan horses daily for Chinese Internet users. If they uninstall 360 Safe, the scale of these virus attacks will be beyond imagination, Xinhua quoted Qi as saying.
Tencent s official Web site claims that the number of active QQ users in China has reached 1 billion, while Qihoo 360 also claims to have had at least 300 million users by June 2010.
A number of netizens said on QQ and in blogs that they would suffer from the tit-for-tat spat.
Have you ever seen McDonald s not allow its customers to buy KFC [food]? Or Canon not allow its customers to buy a Nikon lens? Or Adidas forcibly stripping its customers of Nike pants? (This is) My computer! Mine! One of the most frequently forwarded online messages says.
However, there had also been netizens doubting Qihoo 360 s intention and misleading publicity. Internet industrial leaders Baidu and Kingsoft had also accused Qihoo 360 of foul play and vowed to sever all cooperation with Qihoo 360
In fact, Qihoo 360 initiated the war which it had well prepared for. There are many signs that a lot of online messages and stories condemning Tencent were posted by the employees of, or those paid by Qihoo 360. Tencent has been forced to take this step and there is no doubt that it will win the lawsuit, a netizen named Bin said in a QQ group discussion Thursday.
The rivalry between Tencent and Qihoo 360, whose services and products do not directly compete with each other, stems from Qihoo 360 accusing QQ of breaching users privacy Sept. 27.
Tencent had spied on more than 600 million active users by scanning their documents on hard drives, Qihoo 360 claimed. Its 360 Privacy Protector had detected the fact.
This was denied by Tencent, which fought back by accusing Qihoo 360 of fabricating facts and initiating a malicious business war, by filing a lawsuit against it for unfair practices.
