Microsoft Corporation of the United States went to court today in Beijing accusing the Chinese company Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group of piracy.

This was the first time in China that a final user was sued for pirating software, the copyright of which belongs to Microsoft. Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court began an open trial today.

Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group was accused of using computer software developed and owned by Microsoft by copying them from pirated discs.

According to Microsoft's accusation, law enforcement people from the Haidian District Bureau of Industry and Commerce in Beijing found 37 sets of various Microsoft computer software that were illegally copied and used in the office building of Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group.

Engineers at Yadu allegedly admitted that about 50 computers at Yadu were installed with pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft therefore appealed to the court to force Yadu to immediately stop this piracy, make a public apology to Microsoft, and pay 1.5 million yuan (about 180,700 US dollars) for losses suffered by Microsoft.

Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group, the accused, claimed that neither the computers installed with pirated software nor the witnesses are part of Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group. Rather, the accused said both were part of Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Co., Ltd.

The accused also said that Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group and Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Co., Ltd. were two different companies, though their legal representative was one person, He Lumin.

The accused further claimed that Microsoft tempted, deceived, and misled witnesses while collecting evidence, and that some notarized documents and relevant evidence were illusive. It appealed to the court that the accusation ignored, and it reserved the right to investigate, the behavior that caused damage to the company's credit and profit.

Microsoft agreed to court mediation while Yadu declined.

After nearly two hours of questioning, the chief judge announced that verdict will be pronounced later.

The piracy of computer software falls into four categories: by final users, by hardware producers or dealers, sales of illegally copied discs, and by free-will downloading from the Internet. Piracy by final users is considered the most serious because the final users seek commercial gain with use of the pirated software.

Microsoft has succeeded in suing two other Chinese companies, Beijing Hai Si Da Science and Technology Development Company, and Beijing Min An Investment Consulting Company, in May, 1998 for copyright violation. The two companies paid Microsoft total compensation of some 790,000 yuan (about 95,000 US dollars) and made public apologies in designated publications. (Xinhua)