One of China's leading e-mail service providers, 263.net, will appear in a district court in Beijing facing allegations of breach of contract because it wants to start charging for its e-mail service.
The plaintiff, Beijing-based lawyer, Xu Xilong, accused 263.net of breach of contract because it said it would cancel its free e-mail service and transfer to a paid service system on May 21.
The plaintiff is asking Beijing's Haidian District Court to put a halt to 263.net's plans.
The defendant, which is a part of China Telecom's Beijing operations, made the transition announcement last week. If everything goes as planned, 263.net will become the first mainland-based e-mail service provider to stop providing free e-mail altogether.
China's Internet service providers rushed in to set up free e-mail services during the Internet boom. But, when the Internet bubble burst, they moved away from free e-mail services and began unveiling plans to reduce services.
In August 2001, Nasdaq-listed Sina.com caused a nationwide furore when it announced it would trim down free individual e-mail service, from 50 MB to a mere 5 MB. The new paid service that was touted as being 'more personalized and reliable'.