Internet search engine Baidu ignited a buying spree at the Nasdaq as it made its initial public offering (IPO) at this international bourse early this month.

    Nasdaq has performed a miracle again by turning Baidu's President Li Yanhong, known as Robin Li abroad, into a billionaire, ranking him among the top ten wealthiest Chinese in one day.

    Though its Nasdaq voyage marks a new craze for Chinese technology companies to go public internationally, Baidu may not be as promising as it seems, warned some experts, pointing to the search engine's possible problems ahead, mostly involving copyrights.

Baidu's President Li Yanhong

    A survey on sina.com, a major portal in China, found that 20 percent of people feared that Baidu would face more lawsuits after it goes public.

    Currently, Baidu has been sued by a couple of audio-video companies, accusing it of infringing on their rights by using "illegal links" to their products.

    The public can get access to music and movies through "Baiduing." Baidu's search engine also allows access to gambling and pornography, both of which are banned in China.

    Adversity is also coming from home. Someone known as "Ta Xue WuHen (Walking-Over-Snow-Without-Trace)," who owns the "AntiBaidu Federation Site," has published an article on-line listing a number of alleged "crimes" committed by Baidu, including identifying gambling and pornography web sites, excessive advertising and forcing small sites to pay for a competitive rankings.

    However, Baidu's success can be regarded as a good example in China, where few people understand the importance and potential of venture investment in a market economy, compared with a planned economy where all funding comes from the government.

    Six years ago, Li returned to China with a master's degree in computer science and valuable experience he acquired by working for a global search engine giant Infoseek.

    Li set up Baidu.com in collaboration with his friend Eric Xu, and soon got his first investment of 11.2 million US dollars from foreign venture capitalists, for whom it is now harvest season.

    One direct result of Baidu's Nasdaq odyssey is that this Chinese language search engine has become even more famous at home. Many professionals and students who used to use Google are now turning to Baidu (meaning "ferrying" in Chinese) in work and in their studies.