Lenovo and Microsoft Take Real Steps Against Piracy in China
Lenovo and Microsoft have made some significant strides toward combatting piracy in China.
Yesterday, President HU visited President Gates at the Microsoft White House to discuss progress.
Five months ago, Lenovo pledged to start shipping its computers with only genuine operating systems.
Monday, Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanquing said 70 percent of the computers that Lenovo sells in China are now loaded with licensed Windows copies, up from 10% just six months ago.
I call that progress. (What about sales outside of China?)
Still, Lenovo seems to be making serious effort here.
In the next 12 months, Lenovo plans to buy $1.2 Billion worth of Microsoft software. $200 million of that is earmarked for the Chinese market.
Can we conclude that the Chinese are getting serious about fighting piracy?
Or is it just Lenovo for now?
What do you think?
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20/04/2006
The chairman of the Bureau of Copyright in China spoke on the TV yesterday that computers will be pre-loaded with only licensed major operating systems before putting them on the market. This is a good idea: if people already have what they need, why would they buy/download illegal software?
20/04/2006
well the chinese government wouldn’t have any software piracy problem if they encourage the use of open source programs like Linux, FreeBSD or Ubuntu. As I see it, Microsoft just wants to guard its monopoly in the market under the guise of an “anti-software piracy” campaign and most Asian governments (not just the Chinese) are happy to obliged. The dollar numbers clearly showed it all – for Microsoft, Lenovo and the chinese government.
20/04/2006
Samnut,
Saying and doing are different animals. Would you agree? The key is whether or not they follow through.
20/04/2006
That’s a great point, Jennifer, about the open source software…but it would take soooo long to catch up, don’t you think?
Sooner or later, someone/s might go for it.