TOM Online

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TOM Online (HKGEM: 8282) NASDAQ: TOMO is a mobile Internet company in China, operating the popular Chinese-language Internet portal (www.tom.com) and offering a variety of online and mobile services, including wireless internet and online advertising. The TOM Group is a majority shareholder.

The company was first listed on the HKGEM on March 11, 2004, and on the NASDAQ on March 10, 2004. It is a subsidiary of the TOM Group.

The domain tom.com attracted almost 1 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com survey.

[edit] Censorship controversy

Tom Online partnered with Skype to provide Skype Voice over IP (VOIP) communications services. A Skype senior executive admitted in early 2006 that Tom Online filters Skype text messages, including such phrases as "Falun Gong" and "Dalai Lama",according to an article in BusinessWeek in January 2006. Since late September, users in China trying to download the Skype software are redirected to the TOM site from which a modified Chinese version can be downloaded. Activists in China are warning about the possibility that TOM's versions have or will have more trojan capability.^[1]