Microsoft: 'Copyright infringement in China is improving'

Microsoft Corp. is watching and acknowledging major changes in anti-piracy software in the world's most populous country, the chief lawyer of the software giant said.

" I think last year was an important and welcome year in the field of software protection under Chinese copyright law, " said Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice president and chief attorney, during a meeting. newspaper in Tokyo.

" We began to see new PCs in China being delivered to consumers with legitimate installation software, " he said. " It is a welcome step. We have seen many government departments and businesses buy more legitimate software. This is indeed a commendable step ."

Destroy the pirated disc back to China.

China is the country with the highest piracy rate in the world. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a technology group that Microsoft is a member of, software companies have lost about $ 3.9 billion in the world's most populous country in 2005.

The most recent announcement by the BSA showed that 86% of software installed in PCs in China in 2005 was pirated software. This makes China the fourth largest piracy country in the world, close to Pakistan and behind Zimbabwe, Indonesia.

Although there are very positive signs, there are still many pirated software in China, Mr. Smith said. " There needs to be a next focus in promoting copyright protection and reducing piracy, " he said.

Smith's comments came three days after the US government filed a request for the World Trade Organization accusing China of lax in protecting copyright.

Mr. Smith stressed that being strong in this issue would benefit Chinese citizens and companies themselves.

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