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Microsoft Alleges Piracy at State Owned Chinese Firms, Talks in Nigeria, and a Raid in Malaysia – Week in Review 9/24/2012
Welcome to this another software licensing and protection update. This week Microsoft owns the headlines as they challenge state owned Chinese firms, speak out against piracy in Nigeria and see their software pirated at retailers in Malaysia. Read on for more and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Google+ and our RSS feed to get the latest news.
Microsoft petitions Chinese Government to stop four state firms from pirating Microsoft products
Last week Microsoft appeared in front of a Chinese government panel, led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan, alleging that some of China’s biggest companies are heavily pirating Microsoft products. The companies Microsoft names are: China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China Post Group, China Railway Construction and Travelsky Technology. All four are large state owned firms, CNPC being one of China’s biggest and most valuable companies.
Microsoft is claiming very high rates of piracy at all four businesses: alleging a piracy rate of 93% at China Post, 84% at China Railway, a 40% rate at CNPC and a Microsoft Office piracy rate upwards of 95% at Travelsky. The Chinese companies claim that Microsoft is wildly exaggerating the problem.
Whether or not staggering rates of piracy exist at these four state owned firms, it remains clear that China as a whole has a massive issue with software piracy. According to BSA estimates, China’s illegal software market is worth nearly $9 billion – three times the size of its legal software market.
Microsoft lectures Nigeria on intellectual property law and enforcement
Emmanual Onyeje, Microsoft’s Country Manager for Nigeria, spoke out against copyright infringement in his recent interview with ThisDay. According to Mr. Onyeje, piracy of intellectual property is Nigeria’s greatest challenge. He goes on to say,”Doing business in Nigeria is challenging because of the high rate of piracy… Piracy is not just a software problem, but an intellectual property problem that cuts across industries like movies, books, music and software… if we do not solve the problem of piracy, it will pull down the growth of… the country”.
In Malaysia, two retailers are raided for selling pirated software
The Kedah Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry acted on a tip that two Malaysian retailers were selling computers with pirated Microsoft software. When officials raided the retailers they ended up seizing three notebooks, worth $2,333 USD. According to the Domestic Trade Ministry’s chief, “Some branded computers are sold without any software. Consumers will end up downloading pirated software from the Internet or purchasing them at night markets. They may also ask the computer dealers to install pirated software for a fee.”
In Malaysia software pirates face fines up to $6,500 USD or 5 years in prison.
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