Inquirer.net reported yesterday that a college in Pasay City, the Southeastern College (SEC), is bringing a lawsuit against software giant, Microsoft Corp., and its in-country subsidiary, Microsoft Philippines. The case is that MS Phils. has allegedly infringed on copyright laws, in that the college’s intellectual property rights were allegedly encroached upon.

The news article elaborated that the complaint was based on SEC’s belief that MS Phils. distributed electronic copies (in the form of .pdf files and email) of the document, The SEC Microsoft Office XP Manual. This document was apparently licensed to MS Phils. for a limited number of reprints (10,000 copies, according to the report), but SEC is taking legal action to prove that MS Phils. has gone beyond the letter of their copyright license.

The document, according to the report, “is filed with the National Library with registration No. A-2005-799 and assigned ISBN No. 971-9272-1-2 by the National Library’s Bibliographic Services Division.”

MS Phils., after renaming the 379-page document to “Innovate: A Mentor’s Guide to ICT Foundation Competencies”, is being charged with piracy for transmitting electronic copies of the document to third-party recipients. Also for digitally storing the document in CDs, and for distributing the same.

After first reading, my impression was that it’s a pebble-in-the-shoe case for Microsoft. Representatives from MS Phils. have declined to comment, according to Inquirer.net, pending a formal response by their legal people.

Upon closer inspection of the report’s details, however, I think this could be a landmark case. It’s ironic, isn’t it? Microsoft is fiercely active in the drive against software and intellectual property rights violations. If proven guilty, Microsoft could find itself in an unenviable position.

It cannot but escape our consideration that this might be a case of innocent culpability. MS Phils. might not have realized the alleged infringement. However, for a global corporation that has been very intent on quashing IPR violations, they are expected to be aware of all its nuances and intricacies. If found culpable of IPR infringement, it would really be inexcusable on the part of Microsoft.

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