No sooner were the mascots for the Beijing 2008 Olympics released, the domain names of the five Friendlies were also registered in China.

The Chinese domain name of Friendlies Beibei and Yingying have been registered by an unnamed technology company. Friendlies Jingjing, Huanhuan and Nini have been registered by a monosodium glutamate factory in Dalian. And the general website address of Beibei has also been registered by a network company in Xiamen.

Representatives from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) say the people who registered those domain names have violated the Rules on Olympics Sign Protection and Regulations on Beijing Olympics Intellectual Property Right Protection.

The mascots for the Beijing 2008 Olympics are called Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini respectively to represent the Pinyin "Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni" (Beijing Welcomes You).

(chinatechnews November 16, 2005)