homenewsreviewscompare pricestalk
NEW TODAY:
NEWS Nokia lowers Q3 device market share outlook   NEWS LG Prada II specs revealed    NEWS VIDEO: Sienfeld and Gates star in Microsoft's new campaign    NEWS Zune phone mock-up revealed    NEWS Microsoft Live Office Workspace hits a million    NEWS Giant Alien Kubrick available    NEWS OLPC teams up with Amazon   REVIEW 21 - DVD   NEWS VIDEO OF THE DAY - What If?   NEWS Cambridge Audio announces Azur Blu-ray player                                                                            

Indigenous Chilean tribe sue Microsoft for "intellectual piracty"

How dare the company translate Windows into Mapuzugun

NEWS: 28 November 2006 17:33 GMT by Amber Maitland

And now, a story from the category, "strange but true". Microsoft is being sued by a tiny ethnic group in Chile because the company has translated Windows into their language.

The Mapuche claim that Microsoft are violating their heritage by daring to translate Windows into Mapuzugun without permission. The lawsuit raises the question over whether a language can every be copyrighted or "owned".

Microsoft innocently believed that by translating the software into the language, spoken by a tribe numbering less than 500,000, it would "open a window so that the rest of the world can access the cultural riches of this indigenous people".

However, Mapuche leaders have responded to this act by sending a letter to Bill Gates accusing him of "intellectual piracy". "We feel like Microsoft and the Chilean Education Ministry have overlooked us by deciding to set up a committee to study the issue without our consent, our participation, and without the slightest consultation", said Aucan Huilcaman, one of the leaders involved in the legal dispute. "This is not the right road to go down."

Microsoft has previously translated Windows in Mohawk, Quechua, and Inuktitut without opposition.

The case will be heard in Santiago, although it was originally brought to a smaller court in Temuco. One of the Mapuche supporters has said that if the case goes against them, they will take it the Supreme Court, and are then willing to go up to the court of human rights.

>> Read - CNN Money


disable ad
Have Your Say
(Email address will not be published)


Indigenous Chilean tribe sue Microsoft for "intellectual piracty" Image
Zoom/See more images

Tags


Latest in Biz

NEWS Nokia lowers Q3 device market share outlook
NEWS VIDEO: Sienfeld and Gates star in Microsoft's new campaign
NEWS Samsung considering buying SanDisk
NEWS Daily news roundup - 04/09/08
NEWS Daily news roundup - 03/09/08

Latest on Pocket-lint.co.uk

NEWS Nokia lowers Q3 device market share outlook
NEWS LG Prada II specs revealed
NEWS VIDEO: Sienfeld and Gates star in Microsoft's new campaign
NEWS Zune phone mock-up revealed
NEWS Microsoft Live Office Workspace hits a million




Top Stories

Daily news roundup - 03/09/08

NEWS
Daily News Roundup

The toppest news of the day

Dixons reports sharp downturn in sales

NEWS
Dixons Reports Sharp Downturn

"Most difficult trading environment"

Samsung considering buying SanDisk

NEWS
Samsung Considering SanDisk Buy

"We are looking at various opportunities"



Came straight to this page? Visit Pocket-lint.co.uk for all the latest news and reviews.

disable ad

Broadband?

Compare 50+ deals available to you

Powered by Top 10 Broadband

Pocket-lint.co.uk poll

Q. Are you addicted to the internet?

Vote YES?
Vote NO?

LAST TIME
When asked Do you care if gadgets are green? 50% said yes and 50% said no



disable ad
 

Also available on

news now logo google news logo news yahoo logo

All external sites will open in a new browser. Pocket-lint.co.uk does not endorse external sites. Copyright 2003 - 2008 Pocket-Lint Ltd.

Pocket-lint sites: www.pocket-lint.co.uk | www.photographypress.co.uk | www.gamesdog.co.uk | www.megawhat.tv
disable ad