Chinese search engine Baidu, which has pissed off the record companies by providing an MP3 search facility which offers easy access to all kinds of illegal music files (including some allegedly only available via the Baidu search engine), is facing new opposition from the wider business community because of its practice of mixing up paid-for and organic listings, and because doing so gives predominance to some allegedly shady companies.
The major record companies' second copyright infringement lawsuit against Baidu is ongoing, but the new legal action involves about 50 Chinese companies, according to the Financial Times. The group alleges that mixing up paid-for and proper results to searches is simply "bad business", that rumours Baidu block some non-paying companies from appearing is "unfair", and that giving priority listings to non-legit companies, such as unlicensed medical firms, is just wrong.
The new action uses new competition laws in China, and it could be an interesting case in testing the new regulatory framework that is being developed for the Chinese economy.