First, there was the Inca Empire, then the Spaniards and now Microsoft. But the Mapuche Indians in Chile have resisted them all. And have debuted legal action against the Redmond Company because Microsoft has created a version of the Windows operating system in Mapuzugun, the native tongue of the Mapuche Indians.

"We feel like Microsoft and the Chilean Education Ministry have overlooked us by deciding to set up a committee to study the issue without our consent, our participation and without the slightest consultation," said Aucan Huilcaman, one of the Mapuche leaders supporting the legal action. "This is not the right road to go down. We sent a letter to Bill Gates expressing our concern about this situation since we believe it is an act of intellectual piracy. We are the natural heirs of the Mapuche language and it is up to us to decide what we do with it. The Chilean government and Microsoft did not ask for our opinion on how to implement the Windows version, they just went ahead and did it."

With this lawsuit directed at Microsoft, an estimated 400,000 Mapuche Chilean Indians are resisting the digital age and the interference of the Redmond Company in their language and culture. As yet, Microsoft has failed to comment on the matter and only stated that they expect a legal resolve prior to issuing official statements.

"If they rule against us we will go to the Supreme Court and if they rule against us there we will take our case to a court of human rights," said Lautaro Loncon, a Mapuche coordinator of the Indigenous Network, that is also supporting the adoption of Mapuzugun as an official language for Chile together with Spanish. "If not, we fear it runs the risk of following the same destiny as Latin, spoken only in universities."

"Mapundungun is a fundamental part of our culture and it is our right as an indigenous nation to preserve and develop our cultural heritage... Your decision to implement Windows in Mapundungun may be a good contribution to its technical-linguistic development, but the way it has been done has shown a total disrespect and lack of consultation with the Mapuche Nation," added Huilcaman.

But, while the Mapuche Indians are legally defending the rights over their language and their culture, the alternative for a Mapuzugun Windows is an English or a Spanish version of the operating system. How's that for protecting their culture?