ISM Gmail is a free Web-based e-mail service offered by Beijing ISM Internet Technology Development Co., a small Chinese e-mail provider and domain registrar based in western Beijing.
Like Google’s own free Web e-mail service, the ISM Gmail service employs a logo comprised of blue, yellow, red, and green letters. And the sign-in pages of the two sites display a shared fondness for minimalist design; although Google prefers blue bars along the top and bottom of the page, while the bars on ISM’s site are green.
At first glance, it’s easy to assume that the Chinese site is just a knock-off of the better-known Google e-mail service. There’s just one problem: ISM claims that its Gmail service was here first. And there’s evidence to back up that claim.