I was chilling out on Plurk when this came up:

Yes. You must be thinking, Microsoft China ripping off Plurk? See for yourself. In this blog post, a comparison was done between the design and the codings.

They have uncanny similarities between them. Except for visual changes, I cannot see that Microsoft China created its own set of codings to emulate Plurk. In doing so, they are infringing on the intellectual property rights of Plurk.

Well, plagiarism is a form of flattery. In the artistic world, there are painters who draws Mona Lisa. In the music industry, singers sing covers of songs they think good. But in this case, like anyone would think about, it is not the best form of flattery since the Goliath has once again try to undercut David. China has so many brilliant talents. Can’t the team at Microsoft China just come out with their own set of codings?

Think about it. And like they mentioned in the same post:

To our millions of loyal users: We also need your sincere help. We need your loud and emphatic voices. We need you to help us get out this important story to anyone and everyone you know who can raise awareness on what has taken place. Please translate this story into your respective languages, share it with local media, bloggers and friends, and help us fight the good fight for your beloved Plurk.

UPDATE (151209 8:17AM GMT+8): Microsoft investigating charges it stole rival’s code. (CNET) Wait, they are not rivals in the first place.