Saddened by the tsunami disaster, a Chinese business executive has decided to auction off his unique instant messenger number, a report said on Friday.
The number, 88888, for the internet messenger QQ, is being auctioned on a domestic Web site with bidding reaching 112,000 Yuan ($13,532) on Wednesday and still rising, Xinhua news agency quoted a Chinese newspaper as saying.
The number, regarded as lucky among the Chinese because its pronunciation is close to the pronunciation of fortune, is said to belong to Ma Huateng, the CEO of QQ supplier, Tencent.
Ma said the money raised would be donated to the tsunami survivors in Southeast Asian countries.
The winning bidder will be entitled to use the number for life, Ma said.
However, many people are questioning how to define the ownership of virtual products existing only in cyberspace, such as the number of a messenger, as there is no related law on the issue in China, said a lawyer who declined to be named.
For example, a man surnamed Lu, who is a big fan of online chatting, had paid 2,400 Yuan for QQ number 98765 from another man on a Web site on March 8, 2004. But a fortnight later, he could not log in with the number and Tencent told him the number had been confiscated because it had been stolen.
Considering the messenger number his personal property, which he had paid for, Lu accused Tencent of infringing on his property rights.
