Pirated version of Windows 7 is still circulating in Chinese market

In the bustling shops of Shanghai Xinyang market, fake iPhones from Apple and Bose speakers are displayed in an orderly manner from illegal copies of the new operating system Microsoft Windows 7, days before its official release.
"Which version do you want?" The "Ultimate"? Is normal? In English or Chinese? ", Gesturing a seller, proudly showing his wide range of discs packaged in white boxes with no name.
Microsoft is preparing the world for the launch of its latest version of Windows, but the Chinese can buy pirated copies this month for only 20 yuan (2 million) each - a fraction of its price reaches 320 U.S. dollars (215 euros) .
The early release of Windows 7 in China highlights the challenge facing the leading supplier of software to try to do business in China, the second largest worldwide computer market.

Research firm IDC estimates that about 80 percent of software sold in China last year was pirated. While this figure does not fall is still twice the world average and about four times that in developed markets like U.S. and Japan.

"The main issue that drives piracy in China today is the price," said Matthew Cheung, an analyst with Gartner, another research firm.

"If you try to sell a program that costs 2,000 yuan to a student who lives at 400 yuan per month, simply does not work for most consumers."In a sign accusing these pressures, Microsoft lowered the price last year of its Office 2007 Home and Student Edition up to 199 yuan from 699 yuan. Sell the basic version of Windows 7 Home by 399 yuan, little to Western standards, but still 15 times higher than the pirated copies.

The violation of intellectual property rights has been a common dispute in China's relations with its major trading partners, despite having taken harsh measures against the rampant piracy of all kinds of items, from fake Gucci handbags to pirated versions software.
A Chinese court jailed four people in August to spread their version pirate "Tomato Garden" of Windows XP from Microsoft, in what the official news agency of China, Xinhua, called the greatest destruction of piracy in the nation.
"Many people are willing to continue with this for a long period of time," said Steve Vickers, president of FTI-International Risk. "There are signs that the legal efforts are taking effect, and this should help improve things."

The Business Software Alliance, a trade association created by the software industry, said the sector lost more than 6,600 million (4,430 million euros) last year in China because of piracy, only surpassed by the U.S. .

For better or worse

Most experts agree that piracy in China is a long-term issue, but many additional issues must improve as a reduction in prices of manufacturers, users are more educated and increase living standards .
"Piracy in China has been decreasing year after year because the government is paying increasing attention and price between the original and the fake has been approached," said Qian Liyong, director of the US-China to protect intellectual property rights , based in Beijing.

Gartner estimates that piracy rates in China will fall to 50 percent in 2012, almost on a par with developed Asian markets like Hong Kong.Educating clients is also taking off in China that is beginning to understand the dangers of installing pirated software that sometimes comes with virus and spyware.

"It's a long-term issue, 10 to 20 years, does not leave at a time," said Edward Yu, CEO of research firm Analysys International.In a bid to tackle the problem, Microsoft last year launched a campaign in China that caused unusual display of pirated Windows XP users are put in black every hour.
But this only provoked the anger of thousands of Chinese who switched to free software provided by national companies like Kingsoft, leaving Microsoft with its own black eye.