????微軟（Microsoft）在一場旨在說服美國聯邦政府和州政府重拳打擊軟件盜版的行動中把自己定位成美國制造業的最佳伙伴。微軟的說辭是：外國制造商正在通過使用盜版軟件大量削減成本，因此他們與遵守游戲規則的美國制造商相比，擁有了一種不公平的競爭優勢。

????微軟表示，加強執法將保護美國的大企業，如蘋果（Apple）、思科（Cisco）、戴爾（Dell）、惠普（HP）、谷歌（Google）、IBM、摩托羅拉（Motorola）和施樂（Xerox）等。誰料微軟的做法恰恰引起了其中一些公司的反對。

????科技巨頭們的爭端主要集中在微軟正在加州州議會推動的一項法案上，不過現在這場爭端已經蔓延到了國會，一直在觀察這個問題的游說者們認為，這場爭端可能會迅速激化。

????微軟表示，它的做法只是想創造一個公平的競爭環境。由于侵犯知識產權造成的不公平競爭，過去十年里美國的制造業工作崗位正在加速向海外流失。微軟引用了一份商業軟件聯盟（Business Software Alliance）的研究稱，如果在四年時間里將盜版現象減少10%，將產生近380億美元的經濟產值，并創造25,000個科技行業的新增工作崗位。

????微軟副總法律顧問南希?安德森在一份聲明中稱：“IT盜版損害了創新，并且使遵紀守法的企業在與那些通過盜竊知識產權走捷徑的企業競爭時處于不利地位。”

????反對微軟提案的人則認為，微軟正在推動的這個法案意味著各企業需要證明，其錯綜復雜、規模龐大的供應鏈上的每一行代碼都是合法的，沒有使用盜版軟件，然而這樣做所涉及的成本難以估量。微軟在加州希望通過立法程序要求該州的制造商證明他們只使用了正版軟件。不過同在加州的其他科技公司卻認為這樣做的復雜性大于好處。

????加州制造業與科技協會（California Manufacturers and Technology Association）的游說者桃樂絲?羅斯羅克認為：“這些公司非常關心全球市場的知識產權，但即便對于那些遵紀守法的企業來說，這項法案也增加了他們的風險。”

????現在我們還不是完全清楚微軟為何會采取一個讓它與其它主要軟件廠商對立的戰略。不過像微軟和思科這樣的軟件廠商一直在全球各地積極地監督軟件盜版。而且這兩家公司依賴的是兩個毫不相干的供應商網絡。

????Microsoft is pitching itself as the new best friend of American manufacturing in a campaign aimed at convincing state and federal authorities to crack down on software piracy. The company's argument: foreign manufacturers are slashing costs by ripping off software, giving them a competitive advantage over Americans playing by the rules.

????But the push is engendering opposition from some of the very companies the software giant says stricter enforcement is meant to protect -- a roster that includes Apple, Cisco, Dell, HP, Google, IBM, Motorola, and Xerox.

????The nascent battle of tech titans for now centers on a bill Microsoft (MSFT) is working to steer through the California state legislature, but it has also landed in Congress and lobbyists watching the issue expect it to intensify quickly.

????Microsoft contends it is simply seeking to level a playing field whose tilt has accelerated the offshoring of manufacturing jobs over the last decade. It points to a study by the Business Software Alliance showing that reducing piracy by 10% over four years would generate nearly $38 billion in new economic activity and create 25,000 new tech-industry jobs.

????"Pirated IT undermines innovation and puts law abiding businesses at a disadvantage when competing with companies that choose the shortcut of stealing intellectual property," Microsoft deputy general counsel Nancy Anderson said in a statement.

????Opponents counter the fix the company is pushing would require firms to certify, at immeasurable cost, every line of code in huge, far-flung supply chains. And in California, where Microsoft is backing legislation requiring state contractors to certify they've only used licensed software, home-state tech companies see more complications than benefits.

????"These companies are very concerned about intellectual property in global markets," says Dorothy Rothrock, a lobbyist for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, "but this bill increases the risks even for good actors."

????It's not entirely clear why Microsoft would adopt a strategy that puts it at odds with other major software makers. Both Microsoft and Cisco, for example, aggressively police piracy violations across the globe -- and both rely on similarly disparate networks of suppliers.