A small social networking and microblogging site is accusing Microsoft of not only leeching its Web site design, but of stealing much of its site code verbatim. And Plurk, the accuser, says it’s got the code to prove it. Datamation has the story.
Plurk, a fledgling microblogging service that has a growing audience in Asia, alleged in a blog post Monday that Microsoft China is copying not only the service’s look and feel but also using large amounts of the startup’s code base in its own competing service.
“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,” said a blog post on Plurk’s site Monday.
Microsoft appeared to have been caught off guard by the allegations but said it is trying to get to the bottom of the issue.
“Microsoft takes intellectual property seriously, and we are currently investigating these allegations. It may take some time due to the time zone differences with Beijing,” Mark Murray, Microsoft general manager of corporate communications, said in a statement e-mailed to InternetNews.com.