Commenting on the desktop anti-piracy measure recently launched by Microsoft (MSFT) in China, Kingsoft says that although they too are harmed by pirated software, China-based Kingsoft will not copy Microsoft's mode and promises to continue to offer free WPS Office software to individual users.
Microsoft has initiated an anti-piracy action which targets pirated Windows XP and Office users. Once confirmed as a pirated Windows XP users, the computer's screen will suffer an hourly episode of turning black, and for users of unauthorized Microsoft Office software, their Office programs will be marked with an obvious pirated software sign. The genuine advantage measure was formally started on October 21, 2008 and many Chinese users say Microsoft's measure amounts to little more than injecting malware into their computers.
In regards to Microsoft's anti-piracy action, Kingsoft's president Qiu Bojun says they support the genuine advantage of software, but the means used by Microsoft are open to question. Qiu says that Kingsoft will never force its users to use authentic software by using technological means and he promises to continue to offer free WPS Office software to individual Chinese users.
As a major competitor of Microsoft's Office software in the Chinese market, Kingsoft's WPS Office offers free downloads of its individual edition and its profits are mainly made by providing value-added services to corporate edition users.
As one of the major products of Kingsoft, WPS Office is mainly used in Chinese government departments and large state-owned companies in China.
microsoft know we Chinese have power so company tries fight.But now we fight against with opensource and WPS!!
microsoft know you chinese have no money so they tell you did not pay for software. but now you complain because you are caught for using copy software. if opensource so strong, why microsoft have billions of dollars?
In the long run by pursuading people to use legal software it is benefitial to the Chinese software industry as well.
btw i am using the paid version of Kingsoft Office and Internet security. They are real good and deserve some respect (and £)
What else can one expect from a nation of 'only childs'?
first of all,i want to ask why should we use pirated versions.MS has coded these softwares after years of research.so,MS needs its award.if u people think that open sources like linux is good,then use it.How can we demand a product without money,this is very embarrassing .if u have money ,then use MS PRODUCTS otherwise use open sources.no law can save u if u use pirated versions….
maltwhiskman, dont forget the price for software is relatively high compare to average wage of chinese people. when i was in school(uk) seems no one got a legal copy of windows at that time. now everyone got a legal windows just simply becoz it is bundled with the hardware.
Using counterfeit software is stealing and there are no gray areas about that my friends. Chinese products are generally much lower in quality and the government does not care about creating a lasting good impression around the world so I suggest just boycott Lenovo, acer and all other Chinese brands until the people in China stop stealing our good ideas!
Jamie, If Chinese product is inferior then you dont have to use it if you are lucky to live in a 'democratic'society. unfortunately to hear your narrow mind comment and suggestion of boycott. there are also thousand of western industry which should be blamed for their environmental policy, child labour and other issues(oil war?). i suggest we should all boycott companies from america/western world…btw you have a credit crunch, do you?
Jamie,i m agreed with u.all most all products of china are useless.i have been here for last 2 yrs,but still i haven't seen any chinese company giving me a guarantee on their products.but i admit their cheap price.at international market,there is no comparison between between HP and LENEVO or DELL and ACER.i m in HUAWEI ,in a chinese company.WE use products of DELL ,COMPAQ and HP,because of durability.when children of china are not safety due to tainted milk,what other can we expect.i was in US ,when my friend's daughter died due to poisonous content in chinese toys and till then i have quited using chinese products. i m not here to argue with anyone.but what i have experienced,i just told that….
I have lived both inside and outside China for the last 15 years and I love Chinese people and culture but there is a sickness about how the Chinese cover-up their problems and don't let poor quality issues rise to the surface in the media. At the end of the day, it creates a society that doesn't trust the media and people don't trust each other and therefore rumors and innuendo become supreme. This is an illness and more people will die from mis-information about poor quality products until information is allowed to become more widespread. Chinese "face" is really the biggest problem here and Chinese themselves are worried about losing even a little "face" by admitting they have quality issue problems. This is just a sickness that will eat a cavity inside Chinese people until all Chinese people collapse from this illness. Chinese should get some "balls" and be REAL MEN an admit they have mistakes because if they don't they just appear like children.
But that doesn't answer the question about this main thread which is why Microsoft is doing this. Have any of you been to Beijing? My god!! If you do to the Silk Alley in the center of the city you can buy fake DVD and software right outside on the street and there are policemen walking around and they don't care. If the law authorities in China do not care what can Microsoft do?? Microsoft must handle this themselves if they can not rely on the RULE OF LAW to act on their behalf. I have many many many many Chinese friends and I am very very embarassed that China can not handle 21st Century issues on its own. People say this century is the "century of China", but the milk scandal has already overriden any goodness brought by the great Olympics and Microsoft is left in the dark and can only do one thing and that thing is to be a digital vigilante and rise to claim its own intellectual property rights and copyrights from the illegal thieves who steal their software in China.
I see all this as a great opportunity to promote Open Source and Linux. These are now mature products and they CAN replace completely Windows and MS Office if you take the tiny learning curve it requires. China is way too dependent on MS products, and it is time for change. People, it won't hurt you just to try Linux, you can download the LiveCD of Ubuntu for free and burn it on a CD, and then try it without losing any data. What are you waiting for? You might even like it. I've been Microsoft free for almost 10 years now, so It IS possible to live without MS products. Wake up people!
Microsoft does provide free open source in China! You can cheaply buy their software on the street, you can re-engineer it all you want, and you can upload and download it and share it with friends! Now is this all legal is another question but not one for me to answer hahahahaha
just because you're poor in comparison to other countries DOESN'T ENTITLE you to a discount. hey i don't love microsoft and i'm on occasion guilty of downloading but we all know the risk of getting caught and they should just be happy the worst they faced is an irritating black screen. if china wants cheaper software then their great red government should subsidize it for them. windows is still pretty expensive in america so if a poor person here isn't getting a discount why should anyone else around the world??
next time the the tech savvy morons should turn their automatic updates off like most people with common sense do.
oh yeah and a happy blah blah linux blah blah blah. you linux people are such pests! it's like listening to people go on about the greatness of hemp. most people don't care so just shut up already!
At issue here, I believe, is how we fundamentally look at software. I believe that once I purchase it and it resides on my computer in my home, Micro$oft has no right to interfere with my computer in my home. We are basically giving a corporate entity police powers and unless you believe that companies are above the law or they create the law then they have no legal right to interfere with my own business.
Boycott Chinese products? What a joke! When was the last time something was made entirely in the US? I mean ENTIRELY? This is what happens when you move most of your productivity to another country just to gain more pennies and lay off thousands of employees in your country. Now suck at those consequences cause there is nothing you can do about it.