By Herman Lai, posted Jan 10, 2012 at 3:58 PM, 489 views,

Microsoft Sues China’s Largest Electrical Appliance Retailer

Microsoft appears to be stepping up the fight to curb piracy of its software products, and filed lawsuits to fight against Gome (one of the largest homegrown Chinese electronics distributor) but also Beijing’s Chaoyang Buynow mall, where the pirated copies of Windows and Office were sold.

The Redmond-based giant claimed it has evidence that holds Beijing Chaoyang Buynow accountable for “lack of supervision or proper management” that allowed for the installation of illegal copies of Microsoft Windows and Office products on computers sold by two PC vendors at the PC market. Microsoft has repeatedly tried to settle the issues with the two companies and its lawsuits aim to get both parties to stop infringing on its copyrights and seeks compensation for any losses incurred. However, either the mall or Gome declined to comment, citing the case’s status as under legal proceedings.

According to general manager for IPR of Microsoft China said:

“We hope that the lawsuit will serve as a warning call for computer distributors and sellers to respect intellectual property rights.”

Microsoft has struggled to gain a foothold in China’s booming IT industry due to the use of pirated software is widespread in Chinese homes and offices. About 78 percent of software installed on China’s PCs is pirated, estimates that U.S. companies lost more than $15 billion in 2009 due to international copyright theft. About $14 billion of the total was due to software piracy, with an estimated $3.5 billion in losses in China and $1.4 billion in Russia. The figure is nothing surprising in fact. We believe it would more interesting to know how much and how fast can Microsoft reduce the loss in this year, and of course, it is a very difficult mission.

The lawsuits mark the latest legal action Microsoft has taken to try and stop vendors in the country from selling pirated versions of its software. Microsoft and two other software makers, Adobe and Autodesk, early last year settled separate copyright infringement lawsuits against a midsize Chinese steel-structure engineering company, Guangzhou Wuyang Steel Structure Co. In July 2010, Microsoft said it settled a copyright infringement case with China’sCitic Kington Securities Co., a unit of Citic Securities Co. Last month, China said its government offices at every level will use legitimate as opposed to pirated computer software by the end of 2012. They were trying very hard, but how much more can they do?

Besides, Microsoft announced its virtual store Marketplace will be available in China among the six new markets, which allowed proactive developers to submit their apps. The markets are not however open for local residents yet. Microsoft is trying to get the virtual shelves stocked before opening the doors, and will announce the availability later. And that broke the rumor of Marketplace being blocked in China. Furthremore, back in November last year, Microsoft had signed an agreement with a Chinese electronics retailer giant, and that’s Suning, the rival of Gome. The agreement is an evidence to show Microsoft is working very hard to get the Chinese an opportunity to know Windows phone 7, and it is also very likely to do Microsoft a favor to reduce the Chinese uses IE6 on their computers.

And one more thing, Bill Gates announced his tremendous plan to build the safest nuclear reactor for the Chinese. Ok, very enough. It has nothing related to Windows Phone, but will it?

Source: TNW, WmPowerUser