China passes anti-Microsoft law

[amigamad]

AN INDIAN newspaper is reporting that China will pass a law making it illegal for government organisations to buy more than a certain amount of foreign software.

The full link is at the Inquirer http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14408

[Quixote]

From the article:

Yet there could be obstacles in the path of such a directive -the law in China is decided by the dictators in charge.

One might well be that such a stipulation is in breach of World Trade Organisation rules.

:-? Since when have the World Trade Organization rules been able to overrule a nation's laws?  Does the World Trade Organization not recognize China's sovereignty?

[DanDude]

All I can say is this:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
 :-D

[KennyR]

There's only one organisation in the world that hates competition more than Microsoft - and that's the Chinese government.

[FluffyMcDeath]

Since when have the World Trade Organization rules been able to overrule a nation's laws?

Where have you been hiding? What do you think Seattle '99 was about? Genoa 2001?

It wasn't just a bunch of anarchists and hippies you know, no matter what the media made it look like (but why would a big business like media lie about people who have a beef with big business :-?  ).

[FluffyMcDeath]

Personally I think it should be illegal for governments to use software that can't be given away for free (as source if requested). Anything produced by the government is public property and should be published in publicly accessable form ergo, propriatary files are out. A member of the public, should they have the required skill, should be able to craft something that can read the document without legal consequence, just as anyone with the skill to read can currently read documents printed by the government without having to worry about whether decoding the symbols into meaning contravenes someones patent.

[Arst]

..China eats Microsoft

[Glaucus]

Since when have the World Trade Organization rules been able to overrule a nation's laws? Does the World Trade Organization not recognize China's sovereignty?

Contries that sign on to the WTO agree to play by certain rules (although they rarely do). Protectionism and world trade are natural enemies, and the WTO tries to remove protectionism as best as it can. Of course, this move by China may not be a form of protectionism as they do have the right to buy whatever they want, they would simply have to word their new rules in such a way so that it doesn't appear to be protectionism. If you think about it, if they choose Linux, it's not really protectionism as Linux isn't Chinese made anyway.

When I worked at some Gov of Canada sites, they told us it was government policy to use Canadian software when possible, which meant we were stuck with the horrors of Corel and WordPerfect!!!

  - Mike

[Acill]

I say let them do what they wish. Its only a matter of time before M$ started loosing business. They use end users as bug testers, build in error reporting in windows (why would they do this if they didnt want free bug testing) and charge huge ammounts of money for there software to buisnesses. I'm glad Linux is starting to take over the server market and people are using new systems that are M$ free.

[Hammer]

Note that Chinese Gov (not referring to Taiwan)  has their own MIPS based 500Mhz processor and force their own encryption standard (proprietary encryption WAPI(1)) in wireless protocols(Wi-Fi). Like any other industry sectors, the IT industry is not immune from real world's national strategic issues.

Reference.
1. http://www.commsdesign.com/news/OEG20031219S0017

[Hammer]

They use end users as bug testers

Recall Red Hat 8.0/Mandrake 9.0 gfx issues.

I'm glad Linux is starting to take over the server market and people are using new systems that are M$ free.

It's recommended that one should quote some stats. Refer to netcraft or/and Serverwatch.com for the examples.

[voxel]

@ arts :

Your avatar makes me ROTFL :-)

Nothing against tux BTW ;-)