Beijing urged to buy US software

The US is pressing China to take concrete action to criminalize piracy and buy licensed software from US firms to replace illegally copied software it alleges is used by Chinese government ministries. US Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas said that it would be a major step forward for the Chinese government to purchase licensed software from US firms. US government, media and software officials are calling on China to draft and implement tougher anti-piracy laws that severely punish individuals and companies engaged in business that violates copyrights.