How do Chinese software developers protect their products?

6 points by bsenftner 9y ago ↗ HN

My employer, a facial recognition company, is receiving more and more interest from Chinese companies. However, discussions with engineer and media industry friends in China, Thailand, and Vietnam, they all report 100% usage of pirate software across the board. They are talking TV/Film media production, business process, accounting, software development suites, and all the related server and infrastructure software to make whatever they do operate. They report it is unheard of to actually run legitimate, licensed software unless your company/employer is a owner/investor/partner with the software vendor. As a small, but international vendor of location security software, is the only hope to partner with a Chinese company that can then hopefully be honest in policing the use of the partnerships software products? How does your organization, with an active presence in China, police the use and piracy of your products in Asia?

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CyberFonic 9y ago ↗

I have consulted to a company for several years who negotiated with many Chinese companies in similar areas to your company. There are no guaranteed successful approaches, just look at the experiences of others, e.g. Uber.

You need a substantial shareholder who is also a Chinese expat with strong connections with Chinese companies to do the market development. The Chinese market is very different to that of USA, UK and Europe. The culture, the business norms, the drawn out negotiations, the consensual management style, the ever-present overhang of political connections, the high risk of fly-by-nights, etc will all catch you out. It might be a huge tempting market, but it comes at a cost that could easily bring down an under-resourced, under-prepared company.