Microsoft Corp has won a landmark copyright infringement case against a chain of internet cafes in China using pirated software, a news report said Wednesday. Tonecan Network Communication Co Ltd agreed to pay the US software giant an undisclosed amount in damages and to use genuine software in future, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
A lawyer for Microsoft quoted by the newspaper said it was Microsoft's first lawsuit against an internet cafe in China. Tonecan operates eight internet cafes in the southern city of Dongguan. Microsoft asked the company to start using genuine software in its outlets two years ago without success, according to the newspaper. Provincial officials then raided the cafes in April 2009.
The raids found 1,401 personal computers using pirated software, the newspaper said. Eight months later, Microsoft filed a lawsuit in Dongguan seeking 1.5 million yuan compensation (225,000 US dollars). China has an estimated 138,000 internet cafes according to data from the country's Ministry of Culture quoted by the Post.