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China has the world’s largest number of Internet users and probably the largest number of computers. By the end of June 2008, Chinese Internet users had reached 253 million, with close to 85 million household computers connected to the Internet. Obviously, even if a small percentage of these computers have installed counterfeit software packages, including Microsoft products, this will have significantly affected the company’s bottom line. Therefore, it makes sense for Microsoft to take action.
Under its Windows Genuine Advantage initiative, Microsoft sent notices to Chinese computers to determine if they were using fake versions of Windows. If a computer failed the validation test, its screen would turn black every 60 minutes. In the meantime, the computers also went through Office Genuine Advantage authentication and those using counterfeit Office suites received pop-up windows asking the users to verify the software.
The move, which represents Microsoft’s commitment to “protect its intellectual property” and help its customers to “avoid problems before they happen,” has sparked an anti-Microsoft campaign in China.
Affected computer users were angry at the company, accusing it of violating their right to use their computers and their right to privacy. They argued that Microsoft should punish the producers and sellers, rather than the users, of fake software. They claimed that genuine versions are priced too high, forcing them to opt for pirated ones. Microsoft’s long-standing monopoly in China has also been brought up.
The incident shows that Microsoft is able to access computers in China, which is deemed to have significant national security consequences. It is notable therefore that Ning Guangnan, one of China’s leading computer scientists and an elite member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has taken advantage of this situation to advocate for open source software and for the usage of software developed by Chinese companies. In fact, China’s Medium and Long-Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology (2006−2020) includes “core electronic components, high-end generic chips and basic software” among the 16 mega-engineering programs that will receive significant support from the government.
Dong Zhengwei, a Chinese attorney who sued Microsoft after China enacted an Anti-Trust Law in August, filed a complaint with China’s Ministry of Public Security. He charged Microsoft with being “the biggest hacker in China” and alleged that Microsoft’s anti-counterfeit notification and validation technology was in violation of Chinese law as it has caused serious malfunctions to Chinese users’ computers.
While Microsoft is accused of launching an anti-piracy campaign to preempt a possible anti-monopoly investigation, anti-piracy and anti-monopoly laws are different, both in China and elsewhere. Thus, pirating Microsoft software should not be excused by accusing Microsoft of holding a software monopoly.
The Microsoft crackdown may be an example in which China has been overwhelmed by the current international intellectual property right regime. Nevertheless, without strengthening its IPR protection, China will have much to lose, as not only multinational corporations but also Chinese enterprises will have no incentive to generate new intellectual property and advanced technology in China. In the long run, China’s push to become an innovation-oriented nation, as specified in its development plan, would be in jeopardy.
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(Cong Cao is a senior research associate with the Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce at the State University of New York. He received his PhD in sociology from Columbia University in 1997 and has worked at the University of Oregon and the National University of Singapore. Dr. Cao is interested in the social studies of science and technology with a focus on China. ©Copyright Cong Cao.)
