Beijing Backs Out Of Microsoft Contract
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An order for Microsoft software was cancelled by Beijing&#39;s municipal government after complaints that local governments do not support software developed domestically.
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Microsoft (Quote, Chart) has lost another partner to market its single sign-on services after auction giant eBay (Quote, Chart) said it will no longer support Passport and its .
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pk2000 writes &quot;Microsoft withdrew from a United Nations software standards group for commerce.&quot; &#39;Unfortunately, for now, we have made the decision to stop participating in UN/Cefact for business reasons and this serves as notification of our immediate
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British athletes competing at this year's Olympic Games in China will be forced to sign a contract promising not to speak out on political issues, the Mail on Sunday has reported.
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A small Chinese high-tech firm is suing  Microsoft Corp because it says the software giant has stolen  its creation that allows Internet users to type Chinese  characters, but Microsoft countered the claim on Friday.
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Microsoft has followed a European company in withdrawing from a UN software standards group for commerce. Known as the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic
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(InfoWorld) - Reporters Without Borders criticized the Chinese government for what the press advocacy group considers a move to end anonymous blogging in the communist country. The government, through the Internet Society of China, recently drafted a pact that was signed by at least 20 major blog service providers in the country, including Yahoo and Microsoft, the Paris-based watchdog group said Thursday. "The pact stops short [of] theÂ previous project of making it obligatory for bloggers to register, but it can be used to force service providers to censor content and identify bloggers," the group said in a statement. The pact, unveiled Wednesday, signals an "imminent" new wave of censorship and repression, the group said. Blogging services, which make it easy and simple for people to publish writings, photos, and videos on the Web, have become popular among individuals wanting to anonymously disseminate information that governments would rather keep confidential. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., Microsoft and Yahoo didn't immediately reply to requests for comment. The pact "encourages" blog service providers to require that people provide their real names and contact information in order to let them post blogs, and then store the individuals' information, the group said. The pact also says blog service providers should "monitor and manage comments" as well as delete "illegal and bad information," according to Reporters Without Borders. In its statement, the group quotes Internet Society of China Secretary General Huang Chengqing as saying: "Blog service providers who allow the use of pseudonyms may be more attractive to bloggers, but they will be punished by the government if they fail to screen illegal information." China's Internet policies, such as the censorship of search engine results, have become a frequent target of criticism by organizations that advocate for human rights and press freedom. These organizations, likeÂ Amnesty International, have also criticized Internet companiesÂ including Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google for going along with Chinese government requirements that these groups charge violate human rights and press freedom. The companies' defense is that they must comply with the local laws of the countries in which they operate. Yahoo in particular has been blasted often in recent years for cooperating with the Chinese government and providing information that has led to the arrest of dissidents and journalists. In April, theÂ wife of an imprisoned Chinese dissident sued YahooÂ in the U.S. for divulging information about her husband's Internet activity, which allegedly led to his arrest and torture. The suit was filed by the World Organization for Human Rights USA on behalf of Yu Ling, the wife of Wang Xiaoning, arrested in September 2002 on charges including "incitement to subvert state power." This month, aÂ U.S. congressional committee said it plans to investigateÂ whether or not a Yahoo representative lied during testimony over the company's role in a human rights case in China that sent journalist Shi Tao to jail for 10 years. Â
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A Beijing court has rejected&#160;Yahoo China&#39;s appeal&#160;against a fine of 210,000 yuan ($28,400) for infringing a 2006 copyright law.The suit, filed in January by the 11 members of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), accused Yahoo China of infringing copyright by deep linking, through its music search engine, to MP3 files distributed by third party Web sites without the copyright holders&#39; permission.The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People&#39;s Court&#160;found Yahoo China guilty&#160;on April 24, imposing the 210,000 yuan fine -- far less than the 5.5 million yuan sought by IFPI -- and&#160;Yahoo China promptly appealed. The Beijing Higher People&#39;s Court rejected that appeal on Thursday.Yahoo China is wholly owned by Chinese company Alibaba.com, in which Yahoo owns a 44 percent stake. The offending music search engine allowed visitors to Yahoo China&#39;s site to find and play copyright music tracks without leaving the Yahoo site, according to the IFPI.IFPI blames such sites for what it says is an abnormally low level of music sales in China: around $76 million in 2006, representing less than one percent of global recorded music sales, according to the group. It estimates that 99 percent of music downloads in China infringe copyright.A separate suit filed by IFPI against Chinese search engine Baidu.com in September 2005 resulted in an acquittal for Baidu. IFPI appealed the ruling, but its appeal too was rejected Thursday, leaving Baidu in the clear, said IFPI spokesman Alex Jacob.&quot;The Baidu case was judged on the old copyright law, so our appeal was rejected,&quot; Jacob said.
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Beijing&#39;s municipal government canceled an order for Microsoft Corp. computer software following official complaints that local governments aren&#39;t buying enough domestically-developed software.
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The deal makes the Chinese company the world&#39;s third biggest PC maker and pushes IBM to the sidelines of a field it once ruled.
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Microsoft has been dropped from a $3.6m contract in China because the government broke strict procurement rules, designed to give national firms an edge in securing software deals.
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Under pressure after a U.S. move against Chinese seafood and a huge recall of Chinese toothpaste in Japan, Beijing urged trade partners on Friday to accept its products unless they violate contract terms or local regulations.
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An effort by Beijing authorities to bar access to the Chinese Google News website would be a considerable setback for the US internet search company, which is seeking to expand its
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China gave Iran crucial backing in its stand-off with the UN's nuclear watchdog, with Beijing saying it opposed US efforts to have the Islamic republic referred to the United Nations Security Council.
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The termination of the $5 billion deal stands in opposition to a trend toward more IT outsourcing.
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China said on Thursday that the coalition government of Vanuatu had withdrawn an agreement by its prime minister to switch diplomatic relations to Beijing&#39;s rival, Taiwan.
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British athletes selected for this year's Olympic Games in Beijing will be asked to sign a contract that forbids them making any political statements about the Chinese regime, according to a sunday newspaper report.