Business and enterprise software, and other applications that help a business run

It is all over today's news. Microsoft has added yet another country to the list of those who are offended by its marketing practices. This time, it is China. Once again, the question is whether or not Microsoft “unfairly dominates” its software market in that country. To this end, the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office has formed a committee to look into issues including unfair pricing and illegal bundling practices.

At one point it was reported that Microsoft would cooperate with the investigation. At another point it was reported that it was unaware of that investigation. The folks in Redmond really know how to build credibility. The latest statement that I could find was a nicely spun, if highly illogical, combination: "Microsoft is unaware of any investigation but is always willing to work with and cooperate with the Chinese government."

China, a country with a somewhat unsavory reputation on many fronts itself, is truly not happy with the Redmond giant. A Chinese source said, “On the one hand, global software firms, taking advantage of their monopoly position, set unreasonably high prices for genuine software while on the other hand, they criticize Chinese for poor copyright awareness. This is abnormal. With the anti-monopoly law in place, Chinese government and companies have the obligation and right to correct the situation.”

The list of countries now involved in looking into Microsoft's marketing practices is getting pretty staggering. It occurs to me that everybody can't be wrong.