Alibaba wins case over fake reviews

[Photo: from VCG]

In a landmark decision, a court in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, ruled in favor of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba after it sued a company for fabricating transactions and favorable comments related to online stores. It was the first such case in the country.

The verdict took effect on Nov 11. The defendant, Hangzhou Jianshi Network Technology, did not appeal within 15 days of the verdict.

Xihu District People's Court ordered it to pay 202,000 yuan ($30,500) in compensation to Alibaba for violating the Law Against Unfair Competition and disturbing the market order of e-commerce platforms.

The court said Hangzhou Jianshi established a website in 2014 specializing in accepting requests from online stores to make fake purchases and leave favorable user comments. The company made 360,000 yuan in brokerage and membership fees from September 2014 to March 2016, when its operation was suspended by Hangzhou's market supervision administration.

Altogether, 3,001 Taobao and Tmall stores asked the company to fabricate transactions and user comments, according to court documents.

Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall set up an evaluation system for consumers to evaluate products and services after each purchase.

China's top legislature recently adopted a revision of its Law Against Unfair Competition, stating that e-commerce operators must not deceive consumers by faking sales volume or user comments.

The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI.