Plurk Still Fuming Over Microsoft Rip-off

It wasn’t that long ago that social networks were popping up like they wer

e going out of style. API’s had opened up and similar social networks sprang up, each offering their unique twist to the game, with names that followed the web2.0 trend of dropping vowels. Some others were truly unique, Plurk is a

good example. Now admittedly I am not a fan of Plurk, never found a use for it, never liked the way conversations were held, but it had its following and it did what it did well.

The fact that Plurk was one of those forgotten social networks that not many people talk about, I found it interesting when they popped up in the press again, this time butting heads with computer giant Microsoft on what is a case of blatant theft of code to produce a network called MSN Juku, for their China based customers. Reported on TechCrunch, Mashable, and a few other tech sites, Microsoft quickly pulled the plug on the launch of MSN Juku and blamed the third-party vendor as the culprit for this incident.

Issuing an apology, Microsoft wanted to smooth things over with Plurk, saying that the product is no longer on the market and that swift action was taking with the third-party vendor. Plurk does not seem satisfied with that apology, though they noted that they were aware of it. It seems like Plurk is now considering all options available to them, to include legal action.

Now, in my opinion, Plurk has fallen off the face of the earth, I hadn’t heard of them in a very long time. Publicity like this is pushing them into the forefront again, with new eyes migrating over to their services to check them out. I’m not one to speculate…okay I will, but methinks that publicity like this would work to Plurk’s advantage and keeping this situation going can only mean good things.

Should be interesting to see if Plurk’s user base grows from this, naturally I don’t expect numbers to be shared, but is any press good press? In this case, perhaps yes.

Are you a fan of Plurk? If so, what do you like, if not, why did you leave? Leave your comments below!

Tags: code theft legal action microsoft MSN Juku online community Plurk Social Media social network