Copies of Microsoft's latest product labelled "officially copyrighted" were freely available at the Zhongguancun computer market for about 30 yuan (£2.45; $3.60), the Beijing Evening News said.
Microsoft will launch a "simplified Chinese" version of Windows XP on Thursday with a price tag of 1,498 yuan (£123; $180).
Microsoft officials warned that the pirated versions were of sample versions and their use could cause damage to computers, the report said.
A number of a software manufacturers were also using the XP brand, with products called "Oriental Dadian XP" and "Jingying 315XP", to promote their sales, it said.
Piracy problem
Microsoft sold out of copies Windows XP within two hours of its official launch in Hong Kong last week, the company claimed, but copies of English and Chinese versions of Windows XP were already available in many shopping malls.
"The piracy problem is very serious for the local software industry but the Hong Kong Government should be congratulated for their efforts," Mark Phibbs, Microsoft general manager of business development for Asia said last week.
A recent report for industry body Business Software Alliance found China ranked second for software piracy after Vietnam.
The report valued the losses last year in China due to software piracy at $1.12bn, almost double those in 1999.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1637685.stm
1 comments:
In some socities like China there is no way for the people of the society and more than 99% of the people use these kinds of softwares. In my mind it is important we stay aware of the many threats we face on the internet and are mindful of ways to protect ourselves. Our government is involved and is handling this situation on a global level. We need to ensure our ISPs and individual distributors are held accountable for ensuring safe transactions on their sites for the more vulnerable users
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