A private domain name consisting of aoyun huoju, the
Chinese pinyin of "Olympic torch", has been recalled by Chinese
officials, local media said.
Chen Xianfeng, a resident in Dalian city of northeast China's
Liaoning Province, registered the domain name www.aoyunhuoju.com.cn with
one yuan (13 US cents). However, a notice from the Ministry of
Information Industry arrived on Wednesday has ordered him to give
up the name, the Dalian-based Peninsula Morning Post
newspaper reported.
"The notice said the name includes 'aoyun huoju', or 'Olympic
torch', so it has to be recalled unconditionally." the newspaper
quoted Chen as saying.
"I totally understand the decision of recalling because if the
name was put into commercial use, the authority of the Olympic
Games will be damaged," Chen said.
Chen said he applied the domain name with the intention of
holding an online signature drive to support the Beijing Olympic
Games, but he has not started to design a website.
Chen, 27, has been successful in spotting business opportunities
from registration of domain names which might become popular
targets of companies.
The Chinese Ministry of Information Industry launched a
six-month campaign against malicious registration of domain names
or deliberate registration for profit-taking since November last
year.
(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2007)