Wang Mingjuan won the women's 48kg weightlifting. (Photo/Xinhua)

The rights to internet domain names related to China's gold medalists at the London Olympics have been either registered immediately following their win or auctioned for a high price, suggesting such rights have became a lucrative business in China.

Shortly after Wang Mingjuan won the women's 48kg weightlifting at midnight on Sunday, domain names such as wangmingjuan.com.cn were registered shortly after. Domain names relating to shooter Yi Siling such as yisiling.cn and yisiling.com.cn were also snapped up she beat Sylwia Bogacka of Poland in the 10m air rifle event. Domain names for the pair that ended with ".com" had already been registered long before the Games, according to imoney.china.com.cn, a Chinese-language news website reporting on investment.

The auction price for the domain name of Chinese professional tennis player Li Na has reached 100,000 yuan (US$15,600), while that of NBA player Yi Jianlian, who plays for Dallas Mavericks, is said to have reached US$165,000 (US$25,800).

Cai Wensheng is one individual who has made a fortune from selling domain names he had registered previously such as Tudou, one of the leading video-sharing website in China, and Qiyi, the video website of top search engine Baidu. These were words that he registered in an opportunistic manner in the hope that someone would want them later and have to buy them from him.

Many have questioned the ethics of making a profit by registering domain names of celebrities and entertainers, some of whom were forced to take legal action to reclaim the right to their own names on the internet. Public figures should register their own domain names in advance before someone else does so for their own benefit, said Song Yingqiao, the vice president of HiChina, an internet application service provider, according to imoney.

References:

Wang Mingjuan　　王明娟

Yi Siling　　易思玲

Li Na　　李娜

Yi Jianlian　　易建聯

Cai Wensheng　　蔡文勝

Song Yingqiao　　宋瑛橋