Ballmer makes sure Hu knows: 90 percent of Microsoft software in China is pirated

How bad is Chinese piracy of Microsoft software? Reportedly, 90 percent of Microsoft software used in China is pirated.

That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said when joining a number of U.S. and Chinese business leaders for a meeting at the White House with U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Although his exact words were not revealed, President Obama used the statistic at a later press conference. He said:

Some of it has to do with intellectual property protection. So we were just in a meeting with business leaders, and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft pointed out that their estimate is that only one customer in every 10 of their products is actually paying for it in China. And so can we get better enforcement, since that is an area where America excels -- intellectual property and high-value added products and services.

And the Chinese government has, to its credit, taken steps to better enforce intellectual property. We’ve got further agreement as a consequence of this state visit. And I think President Hu would acknowledge that more needs to be done.

In addition to hitting Microsoft's bottom line, frequently pirated software is not updated as often, leading to easy targets to be turned into botnets. Although President Hu might acknowledge more must be done, it's unclear what those steps will be.

iPad 2 case appears at CES, complete with iPad 2 mockup

A number of iPad 2 cases have shown up on the Web, and all of them have been very consistent in the fact that they all have a camera hole in the back, a camera hole in the front, and a speaker hole. This Dexim keyboard is the same design, although it has an added feature: a Bluetooth keyboard that can adhere to one of the flaps.

Attach the keyboard, and it's sort of like a laptop. Remove the keyboard, and there's still something else in the case that different, a machined aluminum iPad 2 mockup inside. Aside from that, it's pretty similar to the cases that have leaked online, and that means it's pretty close to the rumored iPad 2. Of note is a home button that is positioned nearer the bottom edge, implying rumors of a slimmer bezel might be on target.

One more thing of note: all these similar iPad 2 cases must mean something, as all these manufacturers wouldn't be building cases along the same design unless they knew something. On the other hand, it's possible they're all wrong. Somehow that doesn't seem logical.

Engadget has a full gallery of shots.

Angry Birds turned into a carnival game in Guangzhou, China

Angry Birds has been turned into an carnival game, in Guangzhou, China. You might remember those games where you throw balls at bottles or other things, in hopes of spending $50 to win something worth $5 for your sweetheart.

Just as in the video game, the object is to bust up the "pigs" by shooting Angry Birds at them, using a slingshot.

Unlike the video game, however, Rovio probably isn't getting any royalties from this, but it is China, the land where IP isn't necessarily as respected as it in in other parts of the world.

Chinese crackdown nabs 60,000 porn sites

A year ago, the Chinese government launched a campaign to shut down porn sites. Whether it's been a success or not is hard to say, but it's certainly taken down a huge number of porn sites. The government has shut down some 60,000 porn websites, the official state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.

At a news conference, the director of the Information Office of the State Council, Wang Chen, said that in addition to the 60,000 sites being disabled, approximately 350 million pieces of pornographic or other indecent content was deleted in the crackdown. 2,197 criminal cases were tried, involving 4,965 people. 58 of those people received prison sentences longer than five years.

Xinhua also divulged the follow statistics:

• Around 44.37 million copies of illegal publications, including 981,000 copies of lewd content, 37.35 million pirated copies, some 3.93 million illegal copies of newspapers and magazines, among others, have been confiscated across China.

• More than 16,000 cases, including over 10,000 ones of pirated publications, 1,669 cases involving pornography, and 371 cases involving fake journalists, news reports or media outlets, have been uncovered this year.

• China has shut down more than 60,000 porn websites since launching a crackdown in December 2009.

• Law enforcers across China during a campaign launched in April had destroyed a total of 36.39 million copies of pirated or illegal publications, audio and video discs.

• The office has received over 170,000 tip-offs, mostly about the online or cellphone-based spreading of porn content this year and 534 people have been rewarded 544,000 yuan (81,964 dollars) for the information provided.

• Authorities in Zhongshan City of southern Guangdong Province shut down a huge disc-producing outfit with five production lines and confiscated 3.87 million illegal discs.

Remembering that Xinhua is the official state-run news agency, the following statement from Xinhua needs to be taken with a grain of salt:

The government values the role of the Internet and is willing to read public opinion through the Internet, he said, noting that the country will also try to regulate Internet order and promote the development of Internet culture, in a bid to create a healthy Internet environment for the public.

New Android malware emerges in China

Just a few days after McAfee released its 2011 Threat Predictions Report, citing mobile as an up-and-coming target, San Francisco-based Lookout Mobile Security reported on a new malware variant targeting Android-based smartphones, appearing in China.

Lookout, which develops antivirus software for Android devices, calls the new malware “Geinimi." Geinimi is being “grafted” onto repackaged versions of legitimate Android applications (mostly games). The malware-laden apps are then distributed via third-party Chinese Android app markets.

That said, it would appear that those sticking to the standard Android Market would be safe. It does point out the dangers of sideloading, which is installing apps that are not hosting in Google's official Android Market.

Lookout notes the following:

[...] this Trojan can compromise a significant amount of personal data on a user’s phone and send it to remote servers. The most sophisticated Android malware we’ve seen to date, Geinimi is also the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities. Once the malware is installed on a user’s phone, it has the potential to receive commands from a remote server that allow the owner of that server to control the phone. [...]

Lookout has already delivered an update for its Android users to protect them against known instances of the Trojan. If you are already a Lookout user (free or premium), you are protected and no action is needed.

Although most users would probably be happy with Lookout's free app, the premium service (subscription: $2.99 monthly) adds wipe capabilities and the ability to scan apps for privacy issues.

Geinimi runs in the background once a malware-laden app is run. It collects user information, as note below, that is then sent back to a remote server using one of ten embedded domain names. The malware transmits collected device information to the remote server once it connects.

Among the capabilities of Geinimi, Lookout said, are:

• Send location coordinates (fine location)
• Send device identifiers (IMEI and IMSI)
• Download and prompt the user to install an app
• Prompt the user to uninstall an app
• Enumerate and send a list of installed apps to the server

Although Lookout, and other antivirus programs in the Android Market, can protect against this malware, a user can also be protected by only installing apps from trusted sources. If possible, don't sideload anything. Additionally, though admittedly a tedious process, checking the permissions that an app requests can help, as if an app asks for permissions that makes no sense for its described purpose, it can be a red flag. Use common sense to ensure that the permissions an app requests match the features the app provides.

This isn't the first Android malware discovered. In August, Kaspersky Labs reported that a virus named TrojaN-SMS.Android OS.FakePlayer-A had surfaced, in the form of a fake media player. The infected app would send SMS messages to expensive phone numbers, passing money from a user’s account to that of the malware writers. The virus reportedly only infected devices in Russia.

As mobile devices take on more and more of a role in the lives of consumers, it was only a matter of time until malware targeting devices would appear. It may be a long, long year for security experts.