Twitter Rival Claims Microsoft China Stole Its Code

Twitter Rival Claims Microsoft China Stole Its Code

Plurk, a micro-blogging IT service popular in parts of Asia, claimed today that its site design and underlying code were copied by a service from IT company Microsoft - China division. MSN Juku made its beta debut in China earlier this month as a way for users to post 140-character messages. According to the IT services provider, MSN Juku is a "local innovation developed by MSN China based on Windows Live Messenger networks."
At the time, local Chinese media were already commenting on the similarities in the look-and-feel between MSN Juku and Plurk, with one calling it a "bandit" version (Chinese slang for a knock-off). In a blog post, Plurk said that while "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."