Let me start with a story I heard from an editor friend from Shanghai: a publisher recently ordered all of its employees to delete the Microsoft Office on their computer and replace it with WPS office, an Office clone made by KingSoft.
The reason for this switch is venal: Microsoft is at the gate, demanding 5000 Yuan per head. Threatened, the publisher simply decided to steal from Kingsoft; if they come a-knocking, I am sure the publisher will steal from somewhere else instead of paying a cent.
Now, if anyone should be interested in protecting intellectual right, it should be the publishers, whose goods are often plagiarized, downloaded, even counterfeited outright. However, the friend who relayed this story to me, an editor at the publisher, asked me why Americans are always so adamant in enforcing the law.
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.
Monthly Membership
Yearly Membership
What you get
Full access to all premium content and our full archives
Members'-only newsletters
Preferential access and discounts to all TechNode events
Direct access to the TechNode newsroom
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.