Microsoft Leads By Example, Steals Plurk Code

Software giant Microsoft has long punished legitimate users in an effort to stop the piracy of its software, but apparently Microsoft now thinks it’s ok to steal….at least when they do it.

Microblogging service Plurk, which has become Asia’s most popular microblogging platform is pissed, and rightly so, because Microsoft not only copied their look for a competing product launched recently in China, they actually lifted 80% of the code as well.

The Plurk team writes “We’re still in shock asking why Microsoft would even stoop to this level of willfully plagiarizing a young and innovative upstart’s work rather than reach out to us or innovate on their own terms. Of course, it just hits that much closer to home when all your years of hard work and effort to create something unique are stolen so brazenly. All the more ironic considering Microsoft has often been leading the charge on fighting for stronger IP laws and combating software piracy in China.”

More on the Plurk blog here; you’d say on face value that this is a clear case of piracy from Microsoft, and the screen shots and details back that up.

But what does it say about Microsoft? Here’s a company that recently banned modded XBox 360’s from XBox Live because they could in theory be used to run pirated software, despite the mod practice being completely legal in places like Australia. Microsoft hits with a big stick, but like any bully they don’t practice what they preach.