Microsoft Anti-Piracy Tool Angers Chinese

Widget Mines Personal Data, Then Blacks Out Screens Of Users With Pirated Software

(AP)  An anti-piracy tactic by Microsoft Corp. that turns some computer users' screens black has set off a wave of indignation among Chinese consumers, posing renewed problems for the software maker in the huge China market.

In the week since Microsoft deployed an updated anti-piracy tool here, some Chinese have fumed about what they see as an invasion of privacy. Users of legitimate software have been turning their own screens black in protest. One authorized user complained to the police.

"It's a crime," said Beijing lawyer Dong Zhengwei, who filed a complaint against Microsoft with the Public Security Ministry. The ministry hasn't responded. "The black-screen plan implies that Microsoft can hack all its users, not just the pirates," Dong said. "That's not fair."

At issue is Windows Genuine Advantage, a tool Microsoft uses to assess, over the Internet, whether a PC has one of the pirated copies of Windows that flourish in developing countries. The tool was developed after Windows XP was released, but has since been added to updated copies of the operating system. The technology was built into Vista, the latest edition of Windows, from the start.

As the tool scans for pirated copies of Windows, it logs certain information about computers, notifies users if it detects illegal copies or counterfeits - and urges them to get a legitimate copy.

Windows Genuine Advantage has been in use worldwide for several years. The update that started to affect Chinese PC users last week did exactly what it was intended to do: get people's attention.

Now when the tool detects a fake copy of Windows, it turns the PC's desktop black, replacing the user's background image. Though the user can override the blackout, it reappears every 60 minutes.

In all other ways, the blacked-out computer still works, thanks in part to an outcry last year. In Microsoft's first attempt to step up notifications for pirated software, Windows Genuine Advantage crippled Vista's snappy user interface and disabled other features. Microsoft backed down and settled on the blacked-out desktop as a compromise.

Users not yet affected can avoid getting hit by disabling Windows' automatic update feature, though they then might miss security fixes. But for people who have already been detected as having illegitimate Windows, software patches to avoid the black screen are now circulating online.

Microsoft defended its actions, saying the company complies with Chinese law. It issued a statement promising its anti-piracy campaign would not be used to collect personal information. It is also offering steep discounts on some software to give consumers an affordable legal alternative, with home and student versions of Microsoft Office down to 199 yuan ($29) from 699 yuan ($102).

But that hasn't mollified many Chinese computer users. Their outrage points to continuing problems for the world's largest software maker in what is projected to become the biggest computer market.

While Chinese know their Internet is monitored and censored, that rarely creates a stir. The reaction against Microsoft's black screen tactics shows Chinese consumers' persistent belief that there's little wrong with buying cut-rate pirated goods.

Knockoff software and electronics are rampant in China. Brand-name computers are sold by retailers with pirated software bundled in, helping to keep prices low. More than 80 percent of personal computer software in China last year was pirated, according to the Business Software Alliance, a trade group that counts Microsoft as a member. The worldwide piracy rate last year was 38 percent, and the rate in the U.S. was 20 percent, according to the software group.

In an upstairs corner of a Cybermart electronics emporium in downtown Shanghai, where the shop's counters were cluttered with computer parts, mobile phone trinkets and imitation iPods, saleswoman Jin Li stood in a pink smock under a large Microsoft sign. The shop isn't a licensed Microsoft seller.

"We just wanted to put a brand name up there," Jin said, nodding at the sign.

Customers, she said, have a main complaint about Windows XP. "The real thing is definitely too expensive. They can download it or buy it pirated for 10 yuan," or less than $2, she said. "The real thing is hundreds of yuan. What do you think?"

It's not certain that all users of pirated Windows would otherwise buy the real thing. And it's possible that the presence of cheap pirated versions benefits Microsoft in some cases, by helping to introduce people to the company's products. However, Microsoft says software piracy has kept the company short of its revenue growth targets for China.

The company is finding little sympathy.

"I'll still use pirated software," said 24-year-old Shanghai advertising salesman Tai Chenggong, whose screen turned black this week after he downloaded a fake copy of Windows for free. "It still works, no problem."

[bobnjersey]

[The only reason they can afford computers on which to have Windows operating systems is because we buy their exports.]
[Posted by downtowner97 at 01:29 AM : Oct 29, 2008]

the only reason you can still buy their exports is that they buy our treasury bills to offset the trade balance.

[eddom949]

Just use the dead man''s switch. We''re not starving in America. Au Contraire, we export grain to China.

[dan400man]

Ubuntu and all its Linux cousins are great and all, but until there''s some kind of reference that reads like "Here''s what & how I did it in Windows, now how do I do it in Linux?", it''s going to be slow going to be a "Windows" killer. *Especially* in regards to setting up networking. Adding hardware after the Linux install and figuring out how to add/create/make drivers for the danm thing. Setting up Wine so I can run Windows games. I can search and find thousands of "relevant" websites, and find nuggets here & there but, frankly, I have a job and family that need more attention than I can give a Linux box. I would *LOVE* to wean my household off of Windows, but until the geeky Linux world can talk at the non-geek level, it ain''t gonna happen.

[hologram5]

We did this to ourselves. The fact is WE owe them, hundreds of billions of dollars in debt.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by incog-nito at 01:43 AM : Oct 29, 2008
____________________________________
You are correct, how do you think we got that last stimulus check? We borrowed 150B from China to make it happen.

[tmittelstaed]

I work in technology and the people in Microsoft that are running this farce are traitors to the US and should be shot. These are not english versions of Windows that are being pirated, they are Chinese translations, that Microsoft spent millions translating. Microsoft knows perfectly well they are being pirated and is giving lip service to antipiracy efforts when they could easily write an update that reformatted hard drives of pirated systems when it detected them. Microsoft WANTS the Chinese to pirate Windows because MS wants to keep the average Chinese consumer used to getting software for free - so that it makes it impossible for Chinese software companies to ever get started. No paying customers, no potentially competitive Chinese software industry. In the meantime all the rest of the Chinese businesses are using Microsoft Office software, spreadsheets and the like, to directly compete with every other American company. Would your company love to save all the money it spends on Microsoft software every year? Mine would too. And if we could it would help us compete against Microsoft-subsidized Chinese companies.

[incog-nito]

They owe us. The only reason they can afford computers on which to have Windows operating systems is because we buy their exports.

Posted by downtowner97 at 01:29 AM : Oct 29, 2008

You''re wrong on this. They don''t owe us anything. Corporate America willingly moved (and are moving) our factories and jobs there for the cheap labor. We did this to ourselves. The fact is WE owe them, hundreds of billions of dollars in debt.

[downtowner97]

Our computers, our cell phones, our clothes, our bedding, our building materials, and so many other things are Chinese. Can you imagine how shocking it would be if someone opened a store in the US selling fake Chinese goods? They owe us. The only reason they can afford computers on which to have Windows operating systems is because we buy their exports.

[rwsmith29456]

I don''t have any love lost for Microsoft, but I believe anybody has the right to protect their software against piracy. The method differs from number keys or other security devices such as hardware keys but the aim is the same. Stop users who don''t pay for the product from using it.

[incog-nito]

The American people have been already punished for the past 8 years.

[matter77]

Barack Obama is the freakin'' Hindenburg circling overhead looking for a place to touch down. Vote for Obama and PUNISH AMERICA!

[incog-nito]

In other news, one Chinese "consumer" was quoted as saying, "I''m so upset over Microsoft''s tactics, that if I had actually paid for the software I would immediately ask for refund."

[gmcnally2]

I agree. Ubuntu is the solution for them. Hardy Heron Ho!

[TrakerJon]

Ubuntu Linux will do everything Windows and Mac can and with OpenOffice you can save documents in Microsoft formats all for the cost of a blank CD and an old computer...just add internet access. Few if any viruses, secure networking by default and now very user friendly. Enough said?

[TrakerJon]

Two words...Ubuntu Linux.

[godseyesore-2009]

"some Chinese have fumed about what they see as an invasion of privacy" HaHaHa, what dolts!

[Redoubt]

On a whole, the Microsoft inspired DRM has already alienated users in the free world by making everyone an untrusted and potential pirate. That the Chinese are uncomfy with this small bit of Bill gates'' empire is no surprise. But then again, neither MS or Red China has ever been about freedom.

[cyberus-2009]

I wonder what the outcry would be if something patented/copyrighted in china was being pirated/ produced without license here?

[czmdm]

OneAmerican7 so liberals are now thieves. I guess you will call it theft when Obama steals the show from McCain. You sir are a freaking idiot.

This is why we are going to have an all Democtatic government. Everyone is sick of you guys and your arrogant hatefulness that everyone who holds a different opinion than yours is somehow a thief, liar or unpatriotic. You are a supreme loser. Enjoy the next 4 years of total domination, including the most liberal Supreme Court to ever be set in place.

[mtminds]

OneAmerican7 - Sounds more like Republicans lamenting their failures to me. Blame it on someone else. Who was watching the switch when the financial system derailed?
Who was on watch when 9/11 occured? Who was it that got caught in the Iran Contra Affiar and tried to point to the other guy?

All Republicans in their Republican Corrupt Evilness. I wish Abraham Lincoln was alive to day to let the Republican party know how they are acting more like Communists than anything else these days.

I can''t say more because the Republicans have the government monitor this and will mark me as a trouble maker. How big is your FBI file?

[kaviz]

Boo Hoo, stealing is stealing. They should program it to stop functioning all together and send them a bill with a fine for theft and figure a way to hold their internet access hostage until the penalties are paid.