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 Chinese computer owners to demand the restoration of their software.

Meanwhile, Dong Zhengwei, a Beijing lawyer, has made a submission to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce suggesting a fine of US$1 billion be imposed on Microsoft.

The China Computer Federation has issued a public statement condemning the Microsoft action, which includes a program that blacks out the desktop screen if it detects pirated software and shows permanent warnings on screens.

National Copyright Administration Vice Director Yan Xiaohong on Monday suggested Microsoft give greater consideration to “the price affordability of Chinese customers.”(Xinhua)

National Copyright Administration Vice-Director Yan Xiaohong said: “We believe Microsoft’s price policies should fit the Chinese situation. The company adopted unified prices in the past without considering the income gap between developed and developing countries, so we need to kindly remind them that Chinese customers’ affordability should be considered.”

The federation statement said the company had breached the basic ethics of software developers with the unsolicited remote control of computers.

“If a company believes others have infringed on 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 blackouts 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 US$1 billion be imposed on Microsoft.

He also asked anti-monopoly authorities to investigate the “black screen” tactic and order the company to desist, after complaining to the Ministry of Public Security that Microsoft’s action 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 top Chinese copyright official Monday suggested Microsoft give greater consideration to “the price affordability of Chinese customers.”

National Copyright Administration Vice-Director Yan Xiaohong said: “We believe Microsoft’s price policies should fit the Chinese situation. The company adopted unified prices in the past without considering the income gap between developed and developing countries, so we need to kindly remind them that Chinese customers’ affordability should be considered.”

But some software specialists called on the nation to use more domestic products in the face of the American company’s latest anti-piracy action.

Microsoft’s latest anti-piracy tool renders computer monitor screens black if the installed software fails a validation test.

The program, launched just after midnight last Tuesday, blacks out monitor screens every hour and users must manually restart the computer.

(Xinhua)