Bamboo caned
Microsoft has been given something of a Chinese burn this week, as Beijing's No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ordered the firm to stop selling its Windows operating systems in the country owing to a purported violation of licensing agreements with the local firm that designs its Chinese fonts.
The court reckons Microsoft violated the scope of licensing agreements between it and a Chinese technology company, Zhongyi Electronic, and has ordered the firm to stop selling the Chinese versions of Windows 98, 2000, 2003 and XP, although it is unclear when the ruling will take effect.
Microsoft, which denies violation, said it will appeal the ruling. "Microsoft respects intellectual property rights. We use third party IPs only when we have a legitimate right to do so," reads a company statement.
Even if Microsoft's appeal is unsuccessful, however, it's not believed the ban would especially hurt the firm due to the sheer amount of software piracy which already slashes its profits in China. An IDC report recently estimated that around 80 per cent of all software sold behind the bamboo curtain was pirated.
Also, Microsoft being taken to court by a Chinese company claiming infringement of IP somewhat puts the shoe on the other foot - as it is usually US firms who fight bitter battles against their Chinese rivals over IP violations.
But China has started stepping up the pressure against its own pirates, and has also turned on the offensive against foreign firms it sees as taking liberties with its own intellectual property. Back in August, the Middle Kingdom (China) jailed four software pirates for selling a "Tomato Garden" version of Microsoft's Windows XP.
Not that either the Chinese court ruling or China's harsher penalties for pirates has really stemmed the flow of illegal Windows 7 versions from being passed around the rice paddies, of course.
