(CIO INSIGHT) Oct 20th 2005 – Despite three years of attention by lawmaking committees and a steadily increasing roster of laws protecting intellectual property, China is a shopper’s paradise for all things pirated—handbags, jewelry, movie DVDs, and, of course, software.
Vendors pushing wheelbarrows piled with CDs offer Windows 98, 2000 and XP for as little as 4 yuan—just 50 cents. A slightly higher-quality product is available from tiny, hole-in-the wall storefronts. There, a copy of the software still in its original packaging—or what looks like original packaging – is available for 18 yuan, or $2.25. Still a bargain.
“I want more Chinese to use the software and to get to know the advanced technology of the United States,” explained the salesman.
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