Microsoft admits to Plurk Clone

Microsoft has admitted that it has indeed lifted code of micro blogging site plurk.

Microsoft on it's blog has said

The vendor has now acknowledged that a portion of the code they provided was indeed copied. This was in clear violation of the vendor’s contract with the MSN China joint venture, and equally inconsistent with Microsoft’s policies respecting intellectual property.


putting the blame squarely on the vendor and has said that they have suspended the service called Juku indefinitely They also said when then when Plurk blogged about the code lift it was the middle of the night in China and had to wait till the morning before their employees could come and do something about it. 


The whole incident has left them reeling from embarrassment. when one of the largest companies in the world can allow such things to happen in the first place. No matter whatever the outcome this is the good for Plurk what, with all the publicity.

An original post by

Sociolatte

Twitter rival Plurk says Miscrosoft ripped off it's code

That is exactly what they are saying find below a copy of the statements proving this right from their blog

Here’s the short of what we think has happened:

• 
  Microsoft China officially launched its own microblogging service, MSN Juku/Hompy/Mclub, some time in November, 2009.
  


• 
  The service’s design and UI is by and large an EXACT copy of Plurk’s innovative left-right timeline scrolling navigation system. (see screen captures below)
  


• 
  Some 80% of the client and product codebase appears to be stolen directly from Plurk! (see evidence below).
  


• Plurk was never approached nor collaborated in any capacity with MS on this service.


• As a young startup, we’re stunned, shocked, and unsure what to do next and need your support and suggestions.

The Company says since they are a startup they don't really know what to do and are asking for suggestions. Don't you hate it when all some large companies do is just copy.

They further went on to says that " Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but blatant theft of code, design, and UI elements is just not cool, especially when the infringing party is the biggest software company in the world. Yes, we’re talking about Microsoft. Blerg"

Found on cnet

"It's the second time in recent weeks that Microsoft has been accused of lifting other's work in its products. Last month, the company was forced to pull down a tool for loading Windows 7 onto Netbooks after allegations that the product improperly included open-source code. Microsoft later apologized and last week re-released the toolunder the GPL open-source license.

"Plurk reportedly tops the microblog market in Taiwan, ahead of Twitter. It is also popular in other Asian countries such as Indonesia and Singapore. One reason: Twitter, due to cost and time, only operates a fully localized service in Asia for Japanese users. Plurk, meanwhile, solicits help from volunteers in each country to help translate key commands and phrases, with the best chosen by a vote in that country. That allows Plurk to offer its service in 33 languages, including Chinese, Gaelic, Arabic and Japanese.

Plurk is a 9 member company scattered across the world and was incorporated in Canada

An original post by

Sociolatte