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| 361 | A massive hacker attack has crippled an overseas Web site that has reported extensively on China's biggest political turmoil in years, underscoring the pivotal role the Internet has played in the unfolding scandal.
North Carolina-based Boxun.com was forced to move to a new web hosting service Friday after its previous host said the attacks were threatening its entire business, Web site manager Watson Meng told The Associated Press. He believes the attacks were ordered by China's security services, but it isn't clear where they were launched from.
The assaults on Boxun's server followed days of reporting on Bo Xilai, formerly one of the country's most powerful politicians, who was fired as head of the mega-city of Chongqing and suspended from the Communist Party's powerful Politburo amid accusations of his wife's involvement in the murder of a British businessman.
The scandal has deeply embarrassed Communist Party leaders obsessed with controlling their image and imposing strict secrecy over their inner workings.
Six years ago, when Shanghai's powerful boss was toppled, Chinese social media was in its infancy and months went by with no word on the case against him.
Today, the dynamics have changed, and when the government fails to release information about a key political development, the online rumor mill goes into overdrive, with China's half-a-billion Internet users taking to blogs, foreign news sites, and -- most significantly -- Weibo, China's hugely popular version of Twitter.
"People on Weibo used to care mainly about lifestyle issues, but this time we're seeing it play an unprecedented role in spreading political information and opinion," said Zhan Jiang, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University's School of Mass Media.
The first whiff of the Bo scandal came when his former right-hand man, ex-Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, breached protocol with a surprising Feb. 6 visit -- first reported in Weibo postings... newsfactor.com » | | 362 | A Chinese court is mediating between Apple Inc. and the Chinese company challenging its right to use the iPad trademark, seeking to get the companies to settle an awkward standoff over the issue.
The Guangdong High Court in southern China, is seeking to arrange a settlement, said Ma Dongxiao, a lawyer for Proview Electronics Co. The court on Feb. 29 began hearing Apple's appeal of lower court ruling that favored Proview in the trademark dispute.
"It is likely that we will settle out of court. The Guangdong High Court is helping to arrange it and the court also expects to do so," Ma said Monday.
China has sought to showcase its determination to protect trademarks and other intellectual property, but with hundreds of thousands employed in the assembly of Apple's iPhones and iPads is unlikely to want to disrupt the company's production and marketing in China.
Court officials contacted by phone said they were not authorized to comment on the issue to foreign media.
The Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, a state-run newspaper in Shenzhen, where Proview is based, cited the court's deputy chief judge, Xu Chunjian, as saying last week that the court was working toward a settlement.
Proview, a financially troubled maker of computer displays and LED lights, says it registered the iPad trademark more than a decade ago. Apple says Proview sold it worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 2009, though the registration was never transferred for China.
"Actually Proview always expected to settle out of court from the beginning," Ma said. "I don't know if Apple has changed its attitude, but I believe that the key point now is the price."
Chinese courts often try to mediate agreements out of court. But it is unclear whether Apple is open to that option.
An Apple spokeswoman, Carolyn Wu, said the company had no new comment on... newsfactor.com » | | 363 | Apple Inc. risks losing the right to use the iPad trademark in China, a senior official suggested Tuesday, as a Chinese court was seeking to mediate a settlement between the technology giant and a local company challenging its use of the iPad name.
Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, told reporters in Beijing that the government regards Shenzhen Proview Technology as the rightful owner of the trademark for the popular tablet computers. His remarks could add to pressure on Apple to find a solution to the standoff.
Yan's comments followed news that the Guangdong High Court in southern China is seeking to arrange a settlement in the case. In late February, the court began hearing Apple's appeal of a lower court ruling that favored Proview in the trademark dispute.
"The dispute between Apple and Shenzhen Proview concerning the iPad trademark is going through the judicial process," Yan said in a news conference carried on the Internet.
But he added that "according to our government's laws, Shenzhen Proview is still the lawful representative and user of the trademark."
China has sought to showcase its determination to protect trademarks and other intellectual property, but with hundreds of thousands employed in the assembly of Apple's iPhones and iPads is unlikely to want to disrupt the company's production and marketing in China.
Ma Dongxiao, a lawyer for Proview said the company had expected all along to settle with Apple, with the key sticking point being the amount of money involved.
"It is likely that we will settle out of court. The Guangdong High Court is helping to arrange it and the court also expects to do so," Ma said in a phone interview.
Court officials contacted by phone said they were not authorized to comment on the issue to foreign media.
"Given the wide implications of this case we need... newsfactor.com » | | 364 | Apple set mobile-device sales records in the first quarter of 2012 by expanding its global iPhone shipments 88 percent year-over-year to 35.1 million units and boosting iPad shipments by 151 percent to 11.8 million units.
Apple also outgrew the PC market overall by increasing its quarterly Mac desktop and portable shipments by 7 percent year-over-year to 4 million units.
After Verizon Wireless reported lower than expected iPhone activation numbers last week, investments firms reduced their first-quarter iPhone shipment estimates to the range of 31 million to 33 million units. According to Apple executives, however, the iPhone experienced strong sales growth in the Asia Pacific and Japan markets -- where sales more than doubled year-over-year.
First-quarter iPhone sales in Greater China, for example, were driven by huge demand following the January launch of the iPhone 4S and China Telecom's debut as an iPhone carrier in March.
"On a macro basis, China has an enormous number of people moving into the higher income groups -- the middle class, if you will -- and this is creating a demand for goods, not just Apple's but other companies' goods as well," Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors Tuesday. "There's a tremendous opportunity for companies that understand China, and we're doing everything we can to understand it and serve the market."
Huge U.S. Upgrade Opportunity
Piper Jaffray said that Apple's record iPhone sales are proof that the iconic device maker's international growth is only just beginning.
"Apple's March quarter results are particularly important as they are evidence that the company's growth story can be successful in these emerging markets," said Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Douglas Clinton.
Nevertheless, the U.S. market continues to represent a huge iPhone sales growth opportunity for Apple and its carrier partners.
"The bigger story for iPhone is the coming launch of iPhone 5, which we... newsfactor.com » | | 365 |  (Reuters) - Eight New York residents who accused the Chinese government and Baidu.com Inc of censoring their pro-democracy writings on Wednesday asked a U.S. judge for a $17.44 million default judgment.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 366 | BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States expressed growing concern over cyber-intrusions globally during talks with Chinese leaders, the U.S. secretary of state said on Friday.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 367 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington and Beijing recognize that all cyber attacks on the United States cannot be attributed to China, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said during a visit to the Pentagon on Monday.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 368 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China both have advanced cyber warfare capabilities and must work to avoid miscalculations that could lead to conflict, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday as he hosted the first visit by a Chinese defense minister in nine years.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 369 | The global controversy surrounding the treatment of assembly-line workers who manufacture iPhones and iPads -- and just about every other consumer device -- is triggering an unprecedented effort by Apple Inc. and its chief supplier, Foxconn, to lift the veil of secrecy that normally surrounds their operations in China and highlight how they have improved conditions for those employees.
Since a series of reports about troubling conditions at Foxconn plants, including suicides and charges of forced overtime, worker abuse and unsafe conditions, Apple and Foxconn have moved quickly to address the issue, stepping up audits of all Apple suppliers and giving workers pay raises. Now the companies are ready to show off what they've done.
Recently, a reporter and photographer for the San Jose Mercury News were invited by Apple and Foxconn to visit a factory campus in Shenzhen, a coastal city in southern China, to spotlight efforts to change the work environment for hundreds of thousands of workers across the manufacturer's vast empire in China. The daylong visit included unhindered access to parts of the nearly 1-square-mile complex, and interviews with five employees chosen by Foxconn who have participated in a college program sponsored by the two companies that offers classes ranging from English to engineering, and awards two-year associate degrees. The journalists, though, were not allowed inside a factory.
The sprawling complex known as Foxconn City resembles a college campus as much as it does one of the world's most famous tech factories, where gadgets of all shapes roll off assembly lines that operate around the clock. It is dotted with grocery stores, restaurants and recreation facilities and has its own security guards, who diligently check bags of pedestrians and trunks of vehicles leaving the compound to ensure device prototypes are not removed without permission.
Though Foxconn has long denied it exploits... newsfactor.com » |
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