Microsoft admits code theft by Chinese vendor, apologizes as Plurk evaluates options

Microsoft has admitted that MSN China's Juku service indeed used code unlawfully obtained from microblogging service Plurk, albeit by a Chinese vendor.

Microsoft has admitted that its Juku service, part of MSN China, indeed used code unlawfully obtained from microblogging service Plurk, even though the breach was allegedly committed by a Chinese vendor for the MSN China joint venture.

In a statement, Microsoft said that its vendor has acknowledged that “a portion of the code they provided was indeed copied.” Microsoft says that besides being in violation of the vendor's contract with MSN China, this was also against company policy respecting intellectual property. The company has now decided to suspend access to Juku “indefinitely”.

“When we hire an outside company to do development work, our practice is to include strong language in our contract that clearly states the company must provide work that does not infringe the intellectual property rights of others,” Microsoft said in its statement. “We are a company that respects intellectual property and it was never our intent to have a site that was not respectful of the work that others in the industry have done.”

The issue has placed Microsoft on the wrong side of the battle line in its war against software piracy, specially in China. Its statement today contradicts an previous one issued by MSN China not too long ago defending Juku as "a local innovation developed by MSN China ... based on Windows Live Messenger networks." At the time, Chinese bloggers has termed Juku to be a pirated version of Plurk.

“We are obviously very disappointed, but we assume responsibility for this situation. We apologize to Plurk and we will be reaching out to them directly to explain what happened and the steps we have taken to resolve the situation.” Though Microsoft said that it is undertaking a review of its practices and applications code provided by third-party vendors, Plurk was reported to be mulling its options regarding its future course of action. Reports quoted Plurk co-founder Alvin Woon as saying that Plurk was evaluating “all possibilities”, with a lawsuit being “one of the many options”.