Microsoft Makes Ketchup

Posted on August 26, 2008
Filed Under China Business, China Internet, China Law, Software Piracy |

Hong Lei, the webmaster of Chinese download website Tomatolei.com and writer of Windows XP Tomato Edition, reportedly has been taken into custody by the Suzhou Public Security Bureau.

Tomatolei.com was founded in 2003 and offers the download of the latest Windows XP Tomato Edition and also other useful software, as well as online forums, blogs and ringtone services. Several days after Hong’s arrest last week, Microsoft China responded to China media that it has in the past requested the National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Public Security, together with some other software corporations, to investigate software piracy on Tomatolei.com.

Soon after the news came out in local media, other BBS and Internet forums that are similar with Tomatolei.com have removed contents about operating systems. Various estimates put bootleg Microsoft operating systems at up to 70% of the total installed base in China.

With the persistent rumors of an anti-monopoly investigation in the works, it’s good to see that Microsoft’s lawyers have the time to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys (or is it killing the monkey to scare the chickens? I can never remember). In any case, this may have scared people for a while, but it will blow over.

The question is did the PSB and the Copyright folks do this on their own, or after repeated promptings from Microsoft and other victims? It’d be handy for other vendors to know what degree of wheedling and nagging are required to get something done.