Xunlei v. Super Rabbit case begins trial, results in two weeks

Author: Unknown    Source: cnbeta    Date Added: 2008-07-15

The case of Xunlei suing Cai Xuan, the author of Super Rabbit for alleged copyright infringement was heard in Guangzhou on the 9th of this month. Both parties exchanged evidence in court and the investigation was concluded, with results expected in about two weeks.

It is reported that the proceedings on the 9th progressed quickly, taking only an hour for both sides to present their evidence. Xunlei cited copyright law, insisting that Cai Xuan had no permission to modify Xunlei software but could not explain why the official Xunlei website once provided downloads for an ad-free version of Xunlei software. On the other hand, according to Super Rabbit, the claimed 500,000 yuan compensation by Xunlei was merely an estimated value without factual basis. "If it were really true that Xunlei suffered great losses, why didn't the official side block the ad-free version instead of providing downloads?" Super Rabbit indicated as such. By the time of going to press, Xunlei had not commented on the progress of the case, with relevant responsible persons previously stating "We will resolutely protect our interests."

This is a lawsuit triggered by a software product. In August 2007, Super Rabbit launched the "Xunlei Super Rabbit Edition" software, which reportedly removed all advertisements from the original Xunlei software interface, along with Dogdog search, offering a clean interface and resolving issues like false reporting.

On April 2, 2008, Xunlei sent a legal letter to Cai Xuan, demanding he immediately stop modifying and distributing Xunlei series software, and remove the "Xunlei history record cleaning function" from Super Rabbit software. According to Cai Xuan, he responded on his website on April 3, complying with Xunlei's request to stop modification and distribution, and immediately deleting the "Xunlei Super Rabbit Edition" series software.

However, Cai Xuan did not accept Xunlei's demand to remove the "Xunlei history record cleaning function" from Super Rabbit, as Super Rabbit, as a system optimization software, merely provided the option to "clear user privacy." The decision and method of operation lay with the user, and there was no诱导(inducement) or prompts in the software itself.

In early May, Cai Xuan received a court summons - Xunlei had sued him - which came as quite a surprise. Originally, he thought that following Xunlei's lawyer letter requirements would conclude the matter. Therefore, Cai Xuan subsequently accused Xunlei of "lack of credibility" to the outside world.

Since both are cases of "big suing small" in the software industry, some insiders interpreted Xunlei's case as a replica of Tencent's Coral Bug Case. In that case, Shenzhen Nanshan District Court sentenced Chen Shoufu for infringing copyright, sentencing him to three years in prison and imposing a fine of 1.2 million RMB. Regarding this, the lawyer stated that the two cases have very critical differences: Xunlei's case is civil, while Coral Bug's case is criminal.