Microsoft launches pirate crackdown

[shan]

　 MICROSOFT Corp will crack down on used pirated software products in China from today, the world's No. 1 software vendor said.

　　Microsoft will also launch an aggressive price campaign in China, promoting Office suite for the world's lowest price, to cash in on the world's No. 2 personal computer market, industry insiders said.

　　The Microsoft move follows a lawsuit it brought against a Website providing Windows downloads. Microsoft sued a Website called "Tomato Garden" which provided users free downloads of unlocked Windows systems and other software. Police have arrested the Website's chief.

　　Microsoft said yesterday that computers with Windows and Office that failed to be validated online would turn to a black screen every 60 minutes and warnings would flash from Monday.

　　Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) would help users detect copycat operating systems, it said. After that, users would see their screens go black every 60 minutes and a warning flash across the screen.

　　OGA, to be used for the first time in China, would detect the Office suites, according to Microsoft.

　　In China, more than 90 percent of computers are installed with Windows and Office products.

　　Microsoft have also slashed the price of authorized Windows and Office products. A family and student version of Windows Vista now starts at 499 yuan (US$73). Office prices have been lowered to 199 yuan.

　　However, on the street, Windows Vista copies sell for less than 7 yuan.

http://oem.microsoft.com/public/us/wgavista/flash.html

[shan]

the guardian

Chinese internet users have reacted with fury after Microsoft launched an anti-piracy tool to combat the widespread sale of fake software. People have flooded blogs and bulletin boards to complain it violates their right to privacy - with one lawyer even reporting the firm to security officials for "hacking".

Microsoft dominates the Chinese market, and even the president, Hu Jintao, has said he uses its products. But with software piracy estimated at more than 90%, the firm's profits fail to reflect its popularity.

The new version of its "Windows Genuine Advantage" program turns the background black every hour if the installed software fails a validation test.

But the software giant's attempt to protect its intellectual property sparked angry denunciations. " The computer is mine!" one angry blogger wrote on the web portal Sina.com. "Microsoft has no right to control my hardware without my agreement."

Dong Zhengwei, 35, a Beijing lawyer, has complained to the public security ministry, describing the software giant as the "biggest hacker in China, with its intrusion into users' computer systems without their agreement or any judicial authority". He told the official China Daily newspaper he believed the measure breached China's criminal law.

The China Software Industry Association said it also planned to take action against Microsoft.

Critics said Microsoft was putting their information at risk by accessing their computers. But the software giant argues that counterfeit programs pose a far greater risk to information security.

[shan]

The computer is mine!

yes but the software is theirs .

its intrusion into users' computer systems without their agreement or any judicial authority

did you get their agreement and judicial authority by using their software?

[The Smoking Man]

And are YOU using a legal copy shan?

If you left that computer as it was, you are.

If you paid 15 yuan for a CD ROM, you aren't.

Piracy is so rampant here that it is actually hard to find stores selling DVDs, CDs or CD ROMs that are NOT pirated.

One thing that you may NOT be aware of is that they no longer sell XP. People who are using a pirated copy of XP are going to get nailed by this too.

What this means is that they will have to upgrade to Vista and I will bet that the majority of the systems are not powerful enough to run it. PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO BUY NEW COMPUTERS.

Or will have to switch to linux ... The cheaper solution and probably wiser in the long run.

Or Chinese hackers will have this sorted by Friday.

[shan]

i don't mind to use an original copy at all , 499RMB is nothing .

[The Smoking Man]

Yes, but to many, this is 25% of their monthly income.

The average new ofice worker in Beijing starts at 2,000 to 2,500 yuan per month.

Couple that with the cost of a new computer which previously had a bogus copy of Windows installed.

You are now looking at about 5,000 yuan for a computer at retail costs.

[Art]

If people can't afford MS products then don't use them. There are plenty of free alternatives available such as Linux (which is far less demanding on system resources than even XP) for an OS and programs such as Open Office to replace MS Office. I really do not see the need to steal software from MS.

The complaints about the actions MS are taking to prevent piracy are pretty laughable really. If you fixed your TV or laptop so it wouldn't work if a thief stole it I doubt anybody would have much sympathy for the thief's complaints later that it won't work.