Spelling: an International Concern

This made us say "huh."

Nokia Asked To Apologize For Spelling Mistakes

June 29, 2007

Wang Yingde, a lawyer from Hunan Qishun Law Firm, has told local media that he will join with other Chinese consumers to launch a lawsuit against Nokia for including incorrect Chinese characters on Nokia phones.

On May 28, a consumer surnamed Zhang reported to Chinese media that he had found more than 30 wrong or misspelled characters on Nokia's mobile phones. Zhang, who previously was a Chinese teacher, believed these incorrect characters not only harmed consumer's interests, but also undermined the great power of the Chinese language. He therefore filed a lawsuit against Nokia and requested the company to recall all the problematic mobile phones and apologize to Chinese consumers.

Wang says he will now provide legal aid and ask the mobile phone manufacturer to make an apology for the incorrect characters and pay RMB315 in compensation. The numbers 315 are symbolic of March 15, which is World Consumer Rights Days.

Nokia, however, has told local media that there are no quality problems with their
mobile phones, so they won't return the products to consumers or recall
them.