I have been recently quoted in Anita Davis' article titled Baidu faces massive lawsuit, where Anita describes Baidu's latest challenge:
More than 50 companies are reportedly gearing up to launch a mass-litigation suit against Chinese search engine Baidu for violating anti-trust, fraud and infringement laws.
I have been recently quoted in Anita Davis' article titled Baidu faces massive lawsuit , where Anita describes Baidu's latest challenge:
More than 50 companies are reportedly gearing up to launch a mass-litigation suit against Chinese search engine Baidu for violating anti-trust, fraud and infringement laws.
The article quotes me as follows:
“Baidu has faced legal lawsuits before but managed to come out relatively unscathed,” Rottenberg said. “These allegations will be difficult to prove, and in any case, Baidu’s main challenge in the long run will not be in the courtroom but rather with China’s netizens.”
I would also like to touch upon some additional thoughts I had but didn't make it to the final cut. One instructive lesson lies with China Mobile, which has faced far harsher criticism over the years for allowing heavy spamming and fraudulent charges by wireless value-added service (WVAS) providers on its Monternet platform. China Mobile, however, has since done a good job of weeding out these problem companies and today is stronger than ever before, not only in its business position but also in the minds of users.
I believe Baidu's position in the market, although somewhat dented, is still strong, and as long as Baidu gets its act together I believe they too will emerge from this scandal stronger in the long-term and ultimately China's netizens will be the main benefactors.
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