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Never ones to shy away from an uphill battle, Microsoft has recently been taking new steps to combat software piracy in China. They’ve launched a program, euphemistically called “Windows Genuine Advantage,” which blacks out users' screens if it discovers that they’re running pirated Microsoft software.
In China, a country where a large majority of computers are running pirated software, this move has, predictably, caused quite an uproar.
The China Daily quoted Dong Zhengwei, a lawyer, as saying “[Microsoft is] the biggest hacker in China with its intrusion into users’ computer systems without their agreement or any judicial authority … I respect the right of Microsoft to protect its intellectual property, but … They should target producers and sellers of fake software, not users.”
The quote references the fact that in China, a lot of the software sold commercially is actually pirated, meaning that users might be at risk of a blackout without even knowing it.
Is Microsoft just protecting their IP, or have they gone too far? Let us know after the jump.
Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/atcastle
[2] http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Chinese-Surfers-See-Red-over-Microsoft-Blackouts/
[3] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/fake_flash_memory_spreading_quickly_china
[4] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/malware_loves_china
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/china_bows_international_pressure_lifts_internet_curbs_olympics
[6] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/antipiracy
[7] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/china
[8] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/microsoft
[9] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/piracy
[10] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/software
[11] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/software_news
[12] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/news/windows
[13] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/windows
[14] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/news
[15] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/login?&commentfragment=comments_top_anchor