周
六，阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)对其美国合作伙伴雅虎(Yahoo Inc.)进行了严厉的批评，显示出谷歌事件也让这对著名的互联网中外联盟的关系蒙上阴影。阿里巴巴上周六对雅虎公开支持谷歌的行为进行了严厉抨击，公司发言人斯皮里奇(John Spelich)说，鉴于缺乏事实证据，雅虎上周在声明中宣称与谷歌的立场保持一致是草率的。雅虎拥有电子商务公司阿里巴巴约40%的股份。
雅虎周三称站在谷歌一边，对谷歌所述来自中国的黑客网络攻击行为表示谴责。谷歌在周二称，这些攻击以及中国日益严格的审查制度促使其考虑关闭在华公司。据获知这些网络袭击情况的人士上周五称，雅虎也在受攻击之列，但尚不清楚雅虎的系统是否被攻破。该网络攻击影响了谷歌及其它34家公司。
本记者周末未能联系到雅虎公司在亚洲的发言人置评。
雅虎自1999年起在中国设立合资公司，是最早在华开展业务的外国互联网公司之一。但其逐渐衰落的在华业务彰显了外国公司在中国互联网市场的艰难处境，既要取得商业成功，又要在业务目标与保护隐私、人权和接受审查之间不断权衡。
2005年，雅虎同意以10亿美元及其在华业务为代价换取阿里巴巴40%的股权。雅虎创始人杨志远和阿里巴巴创始人马云自上世纪九十年代末起便是好朋友，两家公司的结盟当时被视作促进雅虎在华快速发展的有效途径。
然而，雅虎与阿里巴巴之间的关系却越来越不尽如人意。该交易给雅虎带来的经济利益是巨大的。阿里巴巴集团的业务部门阿里巴巴网络有限公司(Alibaba.com Ltd)在香港上市后，雅虎公司持有的股份目前价值数十亿美元。
但雅虎中国却逐渐丧失其在中国互联网搜索市场的份额，雅虎品牌在中国逐渐衰落。据易观国际(Analysys International)数据表明，该网站在中国搜索市场中的份额，以收入计算，已从2005年的21%下降到2009年第4季度的不足1%。阿里巴巴一直试图想出策略以重振雅虎中国，目前计划将该网站重新定位成一个娱乐门户网站。
雅虎和阿里巴巴在中国人权方面的公开立场也截然不同。在其结盟后不久即有传言称雅虎中国在2004年向中国政府提供了一个邮箱用户──记者师涛的帐户信息。
师涛因泄露与敏感政治纪念日报道相关的政府文件而被判刑10年，上述信息在定罪过程中起到重要作用。
雅虎管理层因此事受到公开的严厉批评。2007年，杨志远亲自在国会委员会向师涛和另一位异见人士的家人道歉。人权组织称雅虎把该异见人士的个人电子邮箱信息也交给了北京。来自加州的国会议员兰特斯(Tom Lantos)当时严厉地批评了雅虎的管理层，称其虽然在技术和经济上是巨人，但却是精神上的侏儒。
与此同时，阿里巴巴宣称，在未来雅虎中国邮箱用户与北京发生的任何冲突中，公司会与中国政府全面合作。当时阿里巴巴董事长马云称他不是一个政治组织，只是一个商人。
目前谷歌事件导致雅虎与阿里巴巴出现更严重的公开分歧，目前还不清楚二者的关系将会走向何方。雅虎新任首席执行长巴茨(Carol Bartz)于去年1月上任后曾于春天对阿里巴巴高管表示对后者在华处理雅虎品牌的方式表示不满。据知情人士称，巴茨之后一直未与阿里巴巴高层有任何联系。
去年6月，巴茨说雅虎没有理由出售其在阿里巴巴的股份。但雅虎9月将其在阿里巴巴网络公司持有的1.1%的直接股份全部售出，作价1.47亿，但保持了在母公司的股份。
阿里巴巴公司发言人斯皮里奇拒绝就雅虎股份的未来动向作出评论。
在微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)去年主动向雅虎提出收购报价之后，阿里巴巴曾对回购雅虎所持股份一事的可能性进行过评估。
相关人士称，阿里巴巴当时想防止这一部分股份落入微软之手，因为公司高管担心微软的规模及其事必躬亲的管理方式会危害阿里巴巴的自主性及其作为一个中国公司的形象。
Aaron Back
Sharp criticism of Yahoo Inc. by its Chinese partner Alibaba Group highlights how some of the same issues affecting Google Inc. in China have also strained one of the most prominent Sino-foreign alliances in the Internet industry.
Alibaba, an online commerce company in which Yahoo owns roughly a 40% stake, on Saturday slammed the Sunnyvale, Calif., company for its public support for Google in the search giant's conflict with the Chinese government over cyber attacks. Alibaba has told Yahoo that 'Yahoo's statement that it is 'aligned' with the position Google took last week was reckless, given the lack of facts in evidence,' Alibaba spokesman John Spelich said.
Yahoo said Wednesday it is 'aligned with Google' in condemning the cyber attacks that Google said it experienced from hackers in China. Google said Tuesday that those attacks, along with worsening censorship in China, had prompted it to consider closing its China offices. On Friday, people briefed on the cyber attacks, which affected as many as 34 companies in addition to Google, said that Yahoo was also targeted, though it wasn't clear whether Yahoo's systems were also breached.
A spokesman for Yahoo in Asia couldn't be reached over the weekend.
Yahoo was one of the first foreign Internet companies to set up shop in China, starting a joint venture here in 1999. But its flagging fortunes in China since then have illustrated how foreign companies struggle in the country's Internet market, both to achieve commercial success and to balance business objectives with concerns over privacy, censorship and human rights.
In 2005, a frustrated Yahoo agreed to pay $1 billion and hand over its Chinese operations to Alibaba in return for the 40% equity stake in the Chinese company. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Alibaba founder Jack Ma had been friends since the late 1990s, and the tie-up was hailed by both companies at the time as a way to enable to Yahoo to grow more quickly in China.
Instead, the relationship between Yahoo and Alibaba has grown increasingly fraught. Yahoo has benefited financially from the deal -- its stake in Alibaba Group, which owns Hong Kong-listed business trading unit Alibaba.com Ltd., is now worth several billion dollars.
But Yahoo China has steadily lost share in China's Internet search market, and its brand has faded considerably in China. The site had less than 1% of China's search market revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 21% in 2005, according to data from research firm Analysys International. Alibaba has struggled to come up with a strategy to revitalize Yahoo China. It currently plans to reposition the site as an entertainment-focused portal.
Yahoo and Alibaba have also taken different public positions over human rights in China. Shortly after their tie-up, allegations emerged that Yahoo's Chinese operation in 2004 had provided account information to Chinese authorities about one of its email users, journalist Shi Tao.
The information was used to convict Mr. Shi for divulging a government document related to coverage of a sensitive political anniversary. Mr. Shi was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Yahoo's management suffered an immense public backlash over the issue. Before a congressional panel in 2007, Mr. Yang personally apologized to the families of Shi Tao and another dissident that rights groups said had his personal email information turned over to Beijing by Yahoo. Tom Lantos, then a congressman from California, castigated Yahoo's management, saying 'while technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies.'
Alibaba, meanwhile, flatly stated that it would fully cooperate with the Chinese government in any future conflict between a Yahoo China email user and Beijing. 'I'm not a political group; I'm a businessman,' Mr. Ma, Alibaba's chairman, said at the time.
With the Google issue now eliciting even stronger public disagreement between Yahoo and Alibaba, it is unclear where the relationship might go from here. Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz, who took over in January last year, told Alibaba executives in the spring that she wasn't pleased with how Alibaba had handled Yahoo's brand in China. Ms. Bartz has had no contact with Alibaba's top management since then, a person familiar with the relationship said.
Ms. Bartz said in June that Yahoo has no reason to sell its stake in Alibaba. In September, however, Yahoo sold its entire 1.1% direct stake in the company's Alibaba.com unit for about $147 million, though it retains its stake in the parent.
Alibaba spokesman John Spelich declined to comment on the possible future of Yahoo's stake.
Alibaba has previously examined the possibility of buying the stake Yahoo owns, after Microsoft Corp. made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo early last year.
People close to the situation said at the time that Alibaba wanted to prevent the stake passing into Microsoft's hands, because Alibaba executives were concerned that Microsoft's size and history of hands-on management could jeopardize Alibaba's autonomy and its image as a Chinese company.
Alibaba, an online commerce company in which Yahoo owns roughly a 40% stake, on Saturday slammed the Sunnyvale, Calif., company for its public support for Google in the search giant's conflict with the Chinese government over cyber attacks. Alibaba has told Yahoo that 'Yahoo's statement that it is 'aligned' with the position Google took last week was reckless, given the lack of facts in evidence,' Alibaba spokesman John Spelich said.
Yahoo said Wednesday it is 'aligned with Google' in condemning the cyber attacks that Google said it experienced from hackers in China. Google said Tuesday that those attacks, along with worsening censorship in China, had prompted it to consider closing its China offices. On Friday, people briefed on the cyber attacks, which affected as many as 34 companies in addition to Google, said that Yahoo was also targeted, though it wasn't clear whether Yahoo's systems were also breached.
A spokesman for Yahoo in Asia couldn't be reached over the weekend.
Yahoo was one of the first foreign Internet companies to set up shop in China, starting a joint venture here in 1999. But its flagging fortunes in China since then have illustrated how foreign companies struggle in the country's Internet market, both to achieve commercial success and to balance business objectives with concerns over privacy, censorship and human rights.
In 2005, a frustrated Yahoo agreed to pay $1 billion and hand over its Chinese operations to Alibaba in return for the 40% equity stake in the Chinese company. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Alibaba founder Jack Ma had been friends since the late 1990s, and the tie-up was hailed by both companies at the time as a way to enable to Yahoo to grow more quickly in China.
Instead, the relationship between Yahoo and Alibaba has grown increasingly fraught. Yahoo has benefited financially from the deal -- its stake in Alibaba Group, which owns Hong Kong-listed business trading unit Alibaba.com Ltd., is now worth several billion dollars.
But Yahoo China has steadily lost share in China's Internet search market, and its brand has faded considerably in China. The site had less than 1% of China's search market revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 21% in 2005, according to data from research firm Analysys International. Alibaba has struggled to come up with a strategy to revitalize Yahoo China. It currently plans to reposition the site as an entertainment-focused portal.
Yahoo and Alibaba have also taken different public positions over human rights in China. Shortly after their tie-up, allegations emerged that Yahoo's Chinese operation in 2004 had provided account information to Chinese authorities about one of its email users, journalist Shi Tao.
The information was used to convict Mr. Shi for divulging a government document related to coverage of a sensitive political anniversary. Mr. Shi was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Yahoo's management suffered an immense public backlash over the issue. Before a congressional panel in 2007, Mr. Yang personally apologized to the families of Shi Tao and another dissident that rights groups said had his personal email information turned over to Beijing by Yahoo. Tom Lantos, then a congressman from California, castigated Yahoo's management, saying 'while technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies.'
Alibaba, meanwhile, flatly stated that it would fully cooperate with the Chinese government in any future conflict between a Yahoo China email user and Beijing. 'I'm not a political group; I'm a businessman,' Mr. Ma, Alibaba's chairman, said at the time.
With the Google issue now eliciting even stronger public disagreement between Yahoo and Alibaba, it is unclear where the relationship might go from here. Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz, who took over in January last year, told Alibaba executives in the spring that she wasn't pleased with how Alibaba had handled Yahoo's brand in China. Ms. Bartz has had no contact with Alibaba's top management since then, a person familiar with the relationship said.
Ms. Bartz said in June that Yahoo has no reason to sell its stake in Alibaba. In September, however, Yahoo sold its entire 1.1% direct stake in the company's Alibaba.com unit for about $147 million, though it retains its stake in the parent.
Alibaba spokesman John Spelich declined to comment on the possible future of Yahoo's stake.
Alibaba has previously examined the possibility of buying the stake Yahoo owns, after Microsoft Corp. made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo early last year.
People close to the situation said at the time that Alibaba wanted to prevent the stake passing into Microsoft's hands, because Alibaba executives were concerned that Microsoft's size and history of hands-on management could jeopardize Alibaba's autonomy and its image as a Chinese company.
没有评论:
发表评论