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The Shanghai Daily reports that a man has taken his case to the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing for his piracy warning to be removed from his computer stating that Microsoft "...has no right to penalize users by intruding on their computers."
This latest move by Microsoft has been pretty much universally condemned by the Chinese press. The article also makes reference to a statement by the China Computer Federation that the Evil Empire should have taken judicial measures within the laws of China to pursue piracy rather than through the malware update.
Suggestions have also been made to State Administration for Industry and Commerce by a Beijing Lawyer that Microsoft should be fined US$1 billion for their stunt.
Photo by Mo Morgan
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Why use Microsoft, if there are things like Linux and OpenOffice out there?
This might make an interesting precedent around the world as the plaintiff might have a point. MS may be trespassing on the private property of individuals to defend its IP. Such a case may also extend to the US cable industry's practice of sending signals down their pipes into people's homes to knock out illegitimate cable boxes, when the offender calls in to complain of signal problems, a cable guy shows up with the police to press theft of service charges. You can't break a law to defend your rights, that is why you can't record a conversation without the other party's consent and no private party can physically search another party's property.
I hope this guy wins. The only thing worse than China are corporations.
hardly strikes me as a stunt. for starters, the black screen happens hourly to my knowledge and then goes away. you can still use the copy of windows. my china telecom internet access is interrupted at least that often by either advertisements that load instead of my requested page or by some GFW 'glitch'. should i sue china telecom?
second, this kind of behaviour wouldn't fly in the developed world as far as i can tell, and that's actually the cause of the problem. a lot of people have been getting along with everything from their computer systems to their shoes as bootlegs. now that china is becoming developed and having more connections to the outside world, those outside (in this case MS) are demanding the act like the international nation they're striving to be.
it sucks for a lot of people, but maybe it's the cost of modernisation.
i'm a bit shocked that nanheyangrouchuan said something that was a little sympathetic to the chinese. i don't really know how to process that.
Presumably if you had another OS loaded on your PC, then that would still work.
So the equivalent is if you are stealing pay-per-view, and the company worked out a way to black out your screen when you went to that channel.
From what I am hearing, Microsoft has not disabled the pirated versions of the operating systems. This is just a warning, therefore there is really very little harm being done to the rights of local users. Considering they are using pirated operating systems in the first place, this is a slap on the wrist at worst.
And Microsoft is not accessing his computer any differently than they usually do. Through the same channel, Mocrosoft offers benefits for which many consumers are grateful. The point is that MS has been accessing his computer for a very long time, and he has not complained about it.
The real problem is that MS is allowed to offer software at ridicoulously high prices due to the fact that that software has been largely standardised. It is a monopoly.
The point about using other operating systems is valid. If you find it objectionable, either stop pirating the software or change to another OS.
Actually @taihanasie has a very good point. MS also gives you the option of whether to download the update and to choose to be notified before an update is done. It's not like it's an involuntary intrusion into your system.
There's probably a way you can roll back the update too but that probably requires you to have the original MS disc which if you are using fake software, you don't have.
For me, Ubuntu, Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox, Gimp & Inkscape give me all the functionality I need on my home computer.
well if chinese developers were innovative enough to produce their own OS, that abides by Chinese laws, we wouldn't have this problem. But they evidently aren't, and so the chinese have to chi their friggin kui if they think they can just steal shit and use it indefinitely.
Its not just Chinese that are using bootleg versions, many supposed expat are too. Anyhow thats not the point. Its a David vs Goliath fight anyhow and hmy solution is just to avoid the Evil Empire when possible. Use another OS, avoid MS Office if possible or when you can, and KNOW what you are downloading when you update.
How someone, Chinese or not, can complain about a product he is using without authorization? Seriously? How the word "property" can be use to define something you steal?
@nanheyangrouchuan
"MS may be trespassing on the private property of individuals to defend its IP" ...
Waoo!, "Private property", cause when you steal a product it's yours, right? So if MS decide to change its software to improve some part or protect from stealing with black screen, it's bad? they should let you use it as a "private property", give you for free the next upgrade? Next time copy the soft and do not activate the automatic update. If your a thief and a dumb... No need to go to court. The news is already a big joke.
@ nnikba
A computer owned by someone is private property and to enter it and root around for illegal stuff is indeed illegal under western law, and probably under Chinese law at least in principle (unless of course Big Commie AllMighTee is doing the searching).