Plurk.com, a microblogging service, claimed that an overseas division of Microsoft has essentially stolen its design. In response, Microosft has turned off the service, which it calls Juku.
In a blog post on Monday, Plurk, considered a rival to Twitter, said about 80 percent of the client and product codebase for Microsoft’s Juku appears to be a copy of its own service.
Microsoft reiterated late Monday that it is investigating the matter but issued a statement saying it was pulling down the Juku feature while it looks into things.
“Earlier today, questions arose over a feature developed by a third-party vendor for our MSN China joint venture,” Microsoft said in a statement. “Because questions have been raised about the code base comprising the service, MSN China will be suspending access to the Juku beta feature temporarily while we investigate the matter fully.”
Plurk’s charges against Microsoft are somewhat ironic, given that Microsoft officials have frequently spoken out against software piracy and theft of intellectual property in the Asian market.
Microsoft launched MSN Juku, which was created with an independent vendor, in November, allowing users to find friends via microblogging and online games.