BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- 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 U.S. 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.