Microsoft's New China Strategy: Soft on Users of Pirated Software, Hard on Pirates

Sarah Schafer wrote an article about 'Microsoft's Cultural Revolution' in China for Newsweek.

"Ninety percent of Microsoft products used in China are pirated, and for years the company battled back with its signature mix of bullying and intimidation. But in China the government has been sympathetic to the pirates, openly hostile to the Microsoft monopoly and officially embraced Linux, the free rival to Windows."

Microsoft's new strategy to fight piracy is:

• to improve customer support for big Chinese companies;
• help Beijing develop a domestic software industry trained on and tied to Microsoft products;
• share more technology than it normally would;
• ease up on buyers of pirated software;
• don't ease up on pirates.

Read more here.