Chinese File Lawsuits Over Msoft's Piracy Crack Down

As expected, Microsoft's controversial anti-piracy programs have raised a big fuss in China, where a good amount of companies are probably using not-so-legal versions of Windows on all their work computers. One Beijing lawyer made a submission to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, suggesting a $1 billion fine for what he called “illegal measures to deal with [piracy].” The government said it was looking into it.

Another man, who said he wasn't seeking damages, sued Microsoft in a Beijing district court for “violating the integrity of his computer.” He argued that “Microsoft has no right to judge whether the installed software is pirated or not” and demanded that the company remove the notice that he was software piracy victim from his software.

Just to refresh, the "illegal measure in question" is a nagware that turns the screen black on allegedly pirated copies of windows every hour. No data is lost, you're given a countdown for when your screen will return to normal... it's basically just a major annoyance (assuming that it is only pirated copies getting nagged). Is it just me, or does this seem a little brazen of people to sue for what's basically stealing? I think I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the big guy.

http://gizmodo.com/5071836/chinese-f...acy-crack-down