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2009年10月27日,k8凯发天生赢家·一触即发律师集团(北京)办公室詹昊博士就中国移动被诉滥用市场支配地位一案接受了香港《南华早报》记者采访。
以下为相关报道原文:
China Mobile settles monopoly case :Activist lawyer gets 1,000 yuan after alleging unfair prices and abuse of market position
A Beijing lawyer may have opened the floodgates to greater consumer activism on the mainland after China Mobile, the world's largest mobile network operator, settled a lawsuit over mandatory fees he filed under the country's Anti-Monopoly Law.
Zhou Ze, a lawyer with Beijing Wentian Law Firm and one of China Mobile's 500 million subscribers, yesterday said the carrier agreed to pay him 1,000 yuan (HK$1,135) to settle out of court his lawsuit, which alleged price discrimination and abuse of dominant market position.
This means [China Mobile] acknowledges its pricing structure has a problem," said Zhou, whose small law firm has generated publicity in recent years for cases against large enterprises and government agencies.
Zhou brought the case against China Mobile and subsidiary Beijing Mobile on March 4 before the Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court.
His complaint alleged China Mobile abused its dominant position by charging its high-end "Go-tone" package users, who do not use pre-paid cards, a 50-yuan monthly rental fee. Zhou said he bought his own mobile telephone, which clearly meant he need not pay that monthly rental fee to China Mobile.
The lawsuit claimed the operator violated the rules covering abuse of dominant market position found in Chapter 3, Article 17, of the Anti-Monopoly Law, which came into effect on August 1 last year.
Zhou demanded a reimbursement totalling 1,200 yuan for payments made over the past two years, and an order against China Mobile to cease charging users such monthly fees.
The case's settlement, which included Zhou withdrawing his lawsuit, was announced by the People's Court on October 23.
China Mobile lawyer Xue Junfu, of Beijing Jinde Law Firm, said the 1,000-yuan payment made to Zhou was not a reimbursement, but a token of the company's gratitude for his suggestions.
That has not fazed Zhou from eyeing a return to court. "Today, there are many China Mobile users who want me to represent them in similar suits," he said.
Fang Meiqin, an associate director at telecommunications advisory firm BDA China, said a similar lawsuit would not convince the government to adopt anti-monopoly measures, such as having that monthly fee removed.
"From the administration's point of view, the country's telecommunications market is highly competitive and consumers have other alternatives to avoid China Mobile's monthly charge," Fang said. "I don't think many other consumers will follow suit and ask compensation for paying the monthly fee."
Zhan Hao, an executive partner at Grandall Legal Group and a former colleague of Zhou, said it could prompt the Supreme People's Court to finally release its detailed interpretation and instruction about the Anti-Monopoly Law.
"Without this interpretation, the courts are not equipped to evaluate and handle anti-monopoly cases," Zhan said. "The Supreme Court has begun drafting it, but [Zhou's China Mobile lawsuit] could help speed up its release at the start of next year."
Zhou has shown a very public knack for challenging authority. In June, he said the Ministry of Industry and Information's order to install the Green Dam-Youth Escort Web-filtering software on all personal computers sold in the country after July 1 violated fair-market, consumer-protection and anti-monopoly laws, as well as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Chinese Constitution. In August, the central government backed down on that plan.