14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no secret that China remains one of the countries where Microsoft still has a lot of work to do when it comes to its anti-piracy efforts, but one of our readers has provided some pretty interesting and shocking information on the way local companies deal with this problem.
Microsoft contacted the Chinese government asking for help to stop piracy at four large state-owned local corporations, but it seems that pirated software is all around in China.
“I work for a Chinese-owned company in China and suggested that they switch from Windows XP to Linux as it would do everything that they wanted, was more up-to-date and they would never be accused of pirating. The reply was, ‘We have Windows and it's FREE.’ My response was, ‘Yea, because it's stolen software,’” Danny Kay told us.
Sadly, Chinese companies aren’t even pondering the idea of paying for software for a pretty simple reason: nobody can do anything about it.
“In the end, they just smile and gave a shrug as if to say, ‘So what. What is anyone going to do about it?’” he added.
What’s more, Chinese companies’ dirty tricks go way beyond the software industry. Most corporations actually invest heavily in copying the other products on the market and creating a more affordable version exclusively addressed to the local market.
“I interviewed a potential job candidate inside China and during the course of the interview, she recommended that I not design and build anything inside China. ‘Why do you say that,’ I asked, already knowing the answer. ‘Because within two days it will be copied and sold by other companies. The reason I know that is because...that's what I do,’ was her reply,” Kay concluded.
In the meantime, however, Microsoft continues its anti-piracy efforts and tries a different tactic to track down pirates: private detectives. The Redmond-based technology company reportedly sued One1 Software, after its private detectives discovered counterfeited software on several workstations.