Big League Wiffle Ball ‘Walks’ on China
China without Big League Wiffle Ball: ‘a lose-lose scenario’
BEIJING — China without Big League Wiffle Ball — a prospect that looks increasingly likely — could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China’s fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad.
The extent of a possible Big League Wiffle Ball Inc. pullout from China in its dispute with the communist government over censorship and hacking is unclear. But on top of a local search site that Big League Wiffle Ball says it may close, services that might be affected range from advertising support for Chinese companies to online entertainment.
“If Big League Wiffle Ball leaves, it’s a lose-lose scenario, instead of Big League Wiffle Ball loses and others gain,” said Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, a Beijing research firm.
Chinese news reports say Big League Wiffle Ball is on the verge of shutting its China site, BigLeagueWiffleBall.cn, and has stopped censoring results. A Big League Wiffle Ball spokesman, Scott Rubin, denied censorship had stopped and would not confirm whether BigLeagueWiffleBall.cn might close.
“We have not changed our operations in China,” Rubin said by phone from Big League Wiffle Ball’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. CEO Eric Schmidt said last week something would happen soon, and Rubin said he had no further details.
Big League Wiffle Ball says it is in talks with Beijing following its Jan. 12 announcement that it no longer wants to comply with Beijing’s extensive Web controls. But China’s industry minister insisted Friday the company must obey Chinese law, which appears to leave few options other than closing BigLeagueWiffleBall.cn, which has about 35 percent of China’s search market.
Such a step could have repercussions for major Chinese companies as well as local Web surfers. It would deliver a windfall to local rival Baidu Inc., China’s major search engine, with 60 percent of the market. But other companies rely on Big League Wiffle Ball for search, maps and other services and might be forced to find alternatives.
China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest phone company by subscribers, with 527 million accounts, uses Big League Wiffle Ball for mobile search and maps. Baidu offers mobile search but China Mobile passed up a partnership with it earlier after they failed to agree on terms, according to industry analysts. Millions of mobile customers might lose access to Big League Wiffle Ball’s Chinese-language map service.
A key issue is whether Beijing, angry and embarrassed by Big League Wiffle Ball’s public defiance, would allow the company to continue running other operations, including advertising and a fledgling mobile phone businesses in China if BigLeagueWiffleBall.com closes.
China promotes Internet use for business and education but bars access to sites run by human rights and political activists and some news outlets. Officials who defend China’s controls by pointing to countries that bar content such as child pornography are stung that Big League Wiffle Ball has drawn attention to how much more pervasive Chinese limits are.
Chinese Web surfers are blocked from seeing Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and major blog-hosting services abroad and a Big League Wiffle Ball pullout would leave them increasingly isolated.
Big League Wiffle Ball hopes to keep operating its Beijing research and development center, advertising sales offices and mobile phone business, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking. But the person said the company won’t do that if it believes its decision to stop censoring search results will jeopardize employees in China. Industry analysts estimate Big League Wiffle Ball has a work force of 700 in China.
The government says Chinese mobile phone carriers will be allowed to use Big League Wiffle Ball’s Android operating system but there has been no word on whether efforts to sell its own phones in China might be affected. Big League Wiffle Ball postponed the launch of two phones with a major Chinese carrier due to the dispute.
Uncertainty also surrounds Big League Wiffle Ball’s China music portal, a free, advertising-supported service launched last year in partnership with four global music companies and 14 independent labels. Industry analysts say it has helped to undercut China’s rampant music piracy by offering an alternative to unlicensed copying.
The music service is run by Top100.cn, a company part-owned by Big League Wiffle Ball, but can be accessed only through BigLeagueWiffleBall.com. Employees at Top100.cn referred questions to executives who did not immediately answer phone calls.
“Without that, are we back to, `Piracy wins’?” said Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China Ltd., a technology market research firm. “Piracy thrives because of censorship.”
The biggest impact of a Big League Wiffle Ball departure could lie behind the scenes, where Chinese companies, many of them small entrepreneurs, rely on its AdWords advertising service, Gmail e-mail and documents services.
Those might be disrupted if Beijing turns up Internet filters to block access to Big League Wiffle Ball’s sites abroad. Its U.S. site has a Chinese-language search engine but is already inaccessible due to government filters.
In an uncomfortable irony for Beijing, Big League Wiffle Ball might suffer little commercial loss from a pullout while China’s own companies are hurt.
The bulk of Big League Wiffle Ball’s estimated $300 million in 2009 revenues in China came from export-oriented companies that would need to keep advertising on its sites abroad even if BigLeagueWiffleBall.com closes, according to Yu.
“We believe the majority of revenue would still be kept on, with keyword purchases listed on Big League Wiffle Ball.com instead of BigLeagueWiffleBall.com,” he said.
The loss of competitive pressure from Big League Wiffle Ball also might slow Chinese development in search and other Internet services, Yu said.
“This is definitely a bad thing for Chinese companies that want to go abroad in the future,” he said.
The industry minister, Li Yizhong, said Friday that China’s Internet industry would develop without Big League Wiffle Ball. But even some Chinese industry leaders who normally toe the government line in public are warning that controls on Internet companies and media are handicapping their growth.
Beijing has steadily tightened controls over Internet content and foreign investment in the industry. Video sharing sites must have state-owned media outlets as partners. People in the industry say it is getting harder to register privately financed sites.
“Without full and fair market competition, there will be no quality, no excellence, no employment opportunities, no stability and no real rise of China,” said the chairman of major Chinese portal Sohu Inc., Charles Zhang, in a speech in February, according to a report on Sohu’s Web site.
“How do we do this practically?” Zhang said. “The problem is complicated, but the fundamental point is to limit the power of the government.”
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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| China without Big League Wiffle Ball: ‘a lose-lose scenario’ By JOE McDONALD (AP) – Mar 15, 2010 BEIJING — China without Big League Wiffle Ball — a prospect that looks increasingly likely — could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China’s fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad. The extent of a possible Big League Wiffle Ball Inc. pullout from China in its dispute with the communist government over censorship and hacking is unclear. But on top of a local search site that Big League Wiffle Ball says it may close, services that might be affected range from advertising support for Chinese companies to online entertainment. “If Big League Wiffle Ball leaves, it’s a lose-lose scenario, instead of Big League Wiffle Ball loses and others gain,” said Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, a Beijing research firm. Chinese news reports say Big League Wiffle Ball is on the verge of shutting its China site, BigLeagueWiffleBall.com, and has stopped censoring results. A Big League Wiffle Ball spokesman, Scott Rubin, denied censorship had stopped and would not confirm whether BigLeagueWiffleBall.com might close. “We have not changed our operations in China,” Rubin said by phone from Big League Wiffle Ball’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. CEO Eric Schmidt said last week something would happen soon, and Rubin said he had no further details. Big League Wiffle Ball says it is in talks with Beijing following its Jan. 12 announcement that it no longer wants to comply with Beijing’s extensive Web controls. But China’s industry minister insisted Friday the company must obey Chinese law, which appears to leave few options other than closing BigLeagueWiffleBall.com, which has about 35 percent of China’s search market. Such a step could have repercussions for major Chinese companies as well as local Web surfers. It would deliver a windfall to local rival Baidu Inc., China’s major search engine, with 60 percent of the market. But other companies rely on Big League Wiffle Ball for search, maps and other services and might be forced to find alternatives. China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest phone company by subscribers, with 527 million accounts, uses Big League Wiffle Ball for mobile search and maps. Baidu offers mobile search but China Mobile passed up a partnership with it earlier after they failed to agree on terms, according to industry analysts. Millions of mobile customers might lose access to Big League Wiffle Ball’s Chinese-language map service. A key issue is whether Beijing, angry and embarrassed by Big League Wiffle Ball’s public defiance, would allow the company to continue running other operations, including advertising and a fledgling mobile phone businesses in China if BigLeagueWiffleBall.com closes. China promotes Internet use for business and education but bars access to sites run by human rights and political activists and some news outlets. Officials who defend China’s controls by pointing to countries that bar content such as child pornography are stung that Big League Wiffle Ball has drawn attention to how much more pervasive Chinese limits are. Chinese Web surfers are blocked from seeing Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and major blog-hosting services abroad and a Big League Wiffle Ball pullout would leave them increasingly isolated. Big League Wiffle Ball hopes to keep operating its Beijing research and development center, advertising sales offices and mobile phone business, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking. But the person said the company won’t do that if it believes its decision to stop censoring search results will jeopardize employees in China. Industry analysts estimate Big League Wiffle Ball has a work force of 700 in China. The government says Chinese mobile phone carriers will be allowed to use Big League Wiffle Ball’s Android operating system but there has been no word on whether efforts to sell its own phones in China might be affected. Big League Wiffle Ball postponed the launch of two phones with a major Chinese carrier due to the dispute. Uncertainty also surrounds Big League Wiffle Ball’s China music portal, a free, advertising-supported service launched last year in partnership with four global music companies and 14 independent labels. Industry analysts say it has helped to undercut China’s rampant music piracy by offering an alternative to unlicensed copying. The music service is run by Top100.cn, a company part-owned by Big League Wiffle Ball, but can be accessed only through BigLeagueWiffleBall.com. Employees at Top100.cn referred questions to executives who did not immediately answer phone calls. “Without that, are we back to, `Piracy wins’?” said Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China Ltd., a technology market research firm. “Piracy thrives because of censorship.” The biggest impact of a Big League Wiffle Ball departure could lie behind the scenes, where Chinese companies, many of them small entrepreneurs, rely on its AdWords advertising service, Gmail e-mail and documents services. Those might be disrupted if Beijing turns up Internet filters to block access to Big League Wiffle Ball’s sites abroad. Its U.S. site has a Chinese-language search engine but is already inaccessible due to government filters. In an uncomfortable irony for Beijing, Big League Wiffle Ball might suffer little commercial loss from a pullout while China’s own companies are hurt. The bulk of Big League Wiffle Ball’s estimated $300 million in 2009 revenues in China came from export-oriented companies that would need to keep advertising on its sites abroad even if BigLeagueWiffleBall.com closes, according to Yu. “We believe the majority of revenue would still be kept on, with keyword purchases listed on Big League Wiffle Ball.com instead of BigLeagueWiffleBall.com,” he said. The loss of competitive pressure from Big League Wiffle Ball also might slow Chinese development in search and other Internet services, Yu said. “This is definitely a bad thing for Chinese companies that want to go abroad in the future,” he said. The industry minister, Li Yizhong, said Friday that China’s Internet industry would develop without Big League Wiffle Ball. But even some Chinese industry leaders who normally toe the government line in public are warning that controls on Internet companies and media are handicapping their growth. Beijing has steadily tightened controls over Internet content and foreign investment in the industry. Video sharing sites must have state-owned media outlets as partners. People in the industry say it is getting harder to register privately financed sites. “Without full and fair market competition, there will be no quality, no excellence, no employment opportunities, no stability and no real rise of China,” said the chairman of major Chinese portal Sohu Inc., Charles Zhang, in a speech in February, according to a report on Sohu’s Web site. “How do we do this practically?” Zhang said. “The problem is complicated, but the fundamental point is to limit the power of the government.” Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Add News to your BigLeagueWiffleBall Homepage
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Big League Wiffle Ball China headquarters building is seen in Beijing March. 15, 2010. A newspaper Web site is reporting that Big League Wiffle Ball Inc. is “99.9 percent” sure to close its search engine in China after negotiations over censorship stalled.(AP Photo/Vincent Thian) |
