The accusation of piracy made by Microsoft against China's Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group was rejected on December 17, and the computer software giant is required to pay the trial fee of 500 yuan under the verdict of the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

The court concluded after a series of investigations that no direct evidence was found proving that the engineers who admitted pirating Microsoft products were actually employed by the Yadu Group. It turned out that these engineers were employed by the Yadu Science and Technology Co., Ltd., also located in the Yadu Building, where the Yadu Group operates as well. The two are independent companies owned by one individual.

Agents for Microsoft expressed their disappointment over the final result, and said they will continue their efforts to protect their legal rights through legal means and bring another action according to law.

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

This was the first time in China that a final user was sued for pirating software, the copyright of which belongs to Microsoft. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court began an open trial of this case on November 18.

According to Microsoft's accusation, law enforcement officers from Beijing's Haidian District Administration for Industry and Commerce found 37 sets of various Microsoft computer software that were illegally copied and used in the office building, known as Yadu Building, which houses the Beijing Yadu Science and Technology Group.

Engineers at the Yadu Building admitted that about 50 computers of the Yadu Group were installed with pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft therefore appealed to the court to force the Yadu Group 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.

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

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

The accused said it reserved the right to lodge an appeal for the damage to its credit and profit.

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.

In May 1998, Microsoft succeeded in suing two other Chinese companies, Beijing Hai Si Da Science and Technology Development Company, and Beijing Min An Investment Consulting Company, for copyright violations.

The two companies paid Microsoft a total compensation of some 790,000 yuan (about 95,000 US dollars) and made public apologies in designated publications. (Xinhua)