Microsoft's first copyright infringement lawsuit against Internet caf s in China ended up in compromise as it accepted a fraction of the compensation it asked for and sold 700 pieces of software to a leading Internet caf company in Guangdong Province.
Tonecan Network Communication Company, the biggest Internet caf chain in Dongguan, signed an agreement with Microsoft Tuesday in Dongguan Intermediate People's Court. The company will buy 700 pieces of copyrighted Windows software and pay 100,000 yuan ($15,053) in compensation to Microsoft before December 15, the Guangdong-based Information Times reported.
Microsoft asked for 600,000 yuan ($90,320) in compensation after negotiations with Dongguan Internet caf industry representatives broke down. The representatives had refused to replace pirated Windows software with legal ones within five years. "We are glad to see the case ending in this compromise," said Yu Weidong, an intellectual property manager of Microsoft.
Huang Peihong, the owner of Tonecan, said he was satisfied with the result but refused to disclose the price his company paid to Microsoft for the software.
The market price of a piece of copyrighted business Windows software is 630 yuan ($94), but Cheng Chunhua, the chief judge of the case, said Tonecan paid less than that, the report said.
The case was supposed to go to trial on May 12 this year but was delayed after Microsoft raised its compensation request to 1.58 million yuan ($237,844).
The Dongguan Intermediate People's Court heard the case on August 9.
"Cracking down on pirated software should be strengthened but reasonable prices should also be taken into consideration," Cui Qingfeng, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times.
A report on software piracy released by a Beijing-based consultancy company chinalabs.com shows that the piracy rate of operating systems dropped to 27 percent in 2009 from 81 percent in 2005.
By Ge Lili
