The company that entered a bid seventeen seconds too late feels that they should have won the first online auction for the Chinese-language web addresses.

Between January 6 to 10, 3721.com sold three Chinese-language web addresses on the YaBuy.com website. The online auction ended on January 10 at 2:00 PM.

A dozen or so companies, including SINOi.com, bid fiercely for the Chinese-language website "vacant position." At 1:57 PM, SINOi.com bid 37,000 yuan for the website, but someone else bid 40,000 yuan at 1:59. SINOi.com countered that bid with one of 41,000 yuan. According to a spokesman for SINOi.com, YaBuy.com's website accepted their submission and the button to enter the bid turned gray afterwards. But according to the computer, SINOi.com's bid was entered at 4:00:17, seventeen seconds too late.

After the auction ended, 3721.com congratulated SINOi.com on placing the winning bid but around 6:00 PM, YaBuy.com notified that because their bid was seventeen seconds late, they did not win the website address.

The spokesman from SINOi.com says that the company feels that they were wronged. They consider a bid that has been entered before the button turns gray to be valid.