Lawsuit ramps up pressure over Microsoft's "black screen" anti-piracy move

by Cheng Zhiliang

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Chinese media) -- Public pressure on

Microsoft over its controversial anti-piracy campaign in China has been stepped

up with news that a Beijing man is taking the software giant to court to uphold

the principle of the integrity of his computer.

The man, surnamed Liu, said he was not seeking

damages, but just demanding that Microsoft remove a notice that he has been the

victim of software piracy from his desktop.

The court has yet to announce whether it will hear

the case, which could set a precedent for thousands of other Chinese computer

owners to demand the restoration of their software.

"Microsoft has no right to judge whether the

installed software is pirated or not. It has no right to penalize users by

intruding on their computers," said Liu, who lodged his suit at Haidian District

People's Court.

Meanwhile, the China Computer Federation has issued a

public statement condemning the Microsoft moves, which include a program that

blacks out the desktop window if it detects pirated software and permanent

warnings on screens.

The federation statement said the company breached

the basic ethics of software developers with the unsolicited remote control of

computers.

"If a company believes others have infringed their

intellectual property rights, it can collect evidence and take judicial measures

to deal with the infringement according to Chinese law," the statement said.

"It is improper to take illegal measures to deal with

(piracy), and the public will not accept the black screen move."

The federation suggested that the government order

Microsoft to stop the screen black-outs and investigate foreign monopolies in

China's software market. It warned that national security was threatened if the

country lacked its own computer operating systems and office applications.

Meanwhile, Dong Zhengwei, a 35-year-old Beijing

lawyer, has made a submission to the State Administration for Industry and

Commerce suggesting a fine of 1 billion U.S. dollars for Microsoft.

He also asked anti-monopoly authorities to

investigate the "black screen" move and order the company to desist, after

complaining to the Ministry of Public Security that the Microsoft move was the

"biggest hacking activity in China infringing on privacy and damaging

information security".

A source from the administration said it would look

into the application, without giving more information.

A Microsoft spokesman said the company, according to

its practice, would not comment on lawsuits.

Microsoft launched the "Windows Genuine Advantage"

(WGA) and "Office Genuine Advantage" (OGA) tools last week to test the

legitimacy of the software in China's computers. Those whose software failed the

tests would see a black desktop or a permanent warning of pirated Office

software.

Although the company repeated it would not collect

personal information with the tools, which would not affect computer use,

controversy over the move has escalated.

The headline-hitting incident also triggered on-line

surveys on almost every major portal website. The majority of respondents said

they were unhappy with the move.

Ni Guangnan, a researcher at the Institute of

Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of

Engineering academician, said, "Now people understand why China needs its own

software, especially basic programs ... Aren't worse things likely to happen in

the future?".

National Copyright Administration vice-director Yan

Xiaohong told Chinese media on Monday, "The administration understands and supports the

rights-protection moves taken by institutions, including Microsoft."

But he pointed out that they should "pay attention to

the methods".

"Whether the 'black-out' method should be adopted is

open to question. Measures for safeguarding rights need to be appropriate, We've

paid great attention to the 'black-out' issue, so do many experts," he

said.