China Aomei ordered to apologize to Shanda Networking

China Aomei, a computer game operator, has been ordered to apologize for damaging the reputation of Shanghai Shanda Networking Co Ltd, the largest online game developer on the Chinese mainland, after it alleged that Shanda had infringed its copyright at a news conference.

On April 26, 2006, China Aomei Network Co Ltd filed a lawsuit against Shanghai Holdfast Online Information Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Shanda, to the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court, charging that it infringed the copyright of its five network games and asked for 100 million yuan in compensation.

Aomei said it had obtained exclusive rights to run the games on the mainland in October 2005.

Holdfast, Aomei alleged, used loopholes in the game software to let users play online at its site, and even allowed them to use pirated versions of the game software.

On May 9, 2006, Aomei held a news conference in Beijing, claiming that "Holdfast had long violated its copyright" but "Holdfast and its parent company Shanghai Shanda waved aside its warning and continued the violation".

Since Shanda is a listed company on Nasdaq, Aomei threatened to inform the US securities supervisor of the "illegality". Aomei also described Shanda as "a rascal" and "a robber".

The court said Aomei, as a company in the information technology industry, shouldn't have confused Shanda Networking with Shanda Entertainment.