Microsoft management was left red-faced again after its second accusation of code theft in recent weeks. This time, the company was accused of stealing code as well as the UI elements of a tiny startup. So where did the problem pop up this time? Datamation finds out.
For the second time in recent weeks, Microsoft has pulled a product developed by a third-party due to claims that its code ran afoul of intellectual property rules.
The latest gaffe came Monday, when tiny microblogging service Plurk alleged that Microsoft’s new MSN Juku service, which entered beta in China last month, copied not only Plurk’s look and feel, but also may have stolen as much as 80 percent of Plurk’s code base.
Microsoft responded quickly, first saying Monday afternoon that it was looking into the matter, and then taking down the MSN Juku site while it investigated. Company officials also said at the time that a third party had developed the site, contracted by its MSN China joint venture.
Now, the software giant is conceding that the contractor had indeed misused others’ intellectual property, and that it would keep the MSN Juku site shuttered for now.
