Microsoft China has announced that it has sued ten Chinese computer dealers for pre-installation of pirated Microsoft software on sold PCs.
The ten dealers are Beijing Yuntong Shidai Technology Trade Company; Beijing Yuchen Shimei Technology Company; Beijing Sinetec Technology Company; Shanghai Summit Technology Company; Nanjing Bibang Network Technology Development Company; Nanjing Herun Technology Company; Guangzhou Yitai Information Technology Company; Shenzhen Prodigy Industry Company; Chengdu Bandung Haotian Technology Company; and Chengdu Xinshidai Network Company.
Yu Weidong, Microsoft China's general manager for intellectual property, told local media that the pre-installation of unauthorized computer software has been a core problem that needs to be solved in the protection of software.
The Chinese government issued a special notice in March 2006, requiring the installation of genuine operating system software on computers. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also been cooperating with the government to promote the use of genuine software. In the future, it will continue to work with the government to protect the interest and rights of consumers and its own intellectual property rights, so as to maintain the fair market competition environment.
Over the past few months, Microsoft has reportedly cooperated with Chinese law enforcement departments in the inspection of over 50 computer markets in 16 major Chinese cities. During these actions, over 400 vendors who pre-installed pirated software on computers and who sold pirated software were warned; and 494 computers with pirated software and 6,331 sets of pirated software were confiscated. In addition, based on the reports of consumers, Microsoft reported 13 pirated and fake software sellers to the law enforcement department, of which eight have already been punished.