Everyone knows about the obscenely high levels of software piracy over here in China. The good news is that the numbers have gone down in the past few years, with rates above 90% falling about ten percent. Still high, but impressive progress.
Some of that progress has been due to the software legalization campaign in the area of government procurement. Essentially this has meant getting the Chinese government to sign on to the notion that it will not purchase PCs with illegal copies of Windows or other business software pre-installed. This has been a successful campaign.
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago after I attended the Ambassador's IP Roundtable in Beijing, the software legalization campaign is set to expand. Speak of the devil – news of this hit my inbox just yesterday as Microsoft targets the big PC manufacturers:
Microsoft Corp. and China's No. 2 personal computer maker signed an agreement Wednesday to pre-install Microsoft's Windows operating system in PCs to combat widespread Chinese product piracy.
The deal between the two companies goes beyond a promise to not pre-install illegal copies of Windows. Founder will act as an authorized seller of some Microsoft products, and one assumes that some cooperative marketing will ensue out of all this.
Smart move, I think, and what a big difference between this anti-piracy campaign and the rather brutish Microsoft litigations over here in the past that led to some PR disasters. This campaign is a win-win for everyone, and allows Microsoft to show its willingness to work with local firms in a "harmonious society" sort of way.