A recent report that Microsoft has updated its Services Agreement to pave the way for it to no longer offer Windows services to Chinese users has sparked widespread discussion among Internet users in China.
In response, Microsoft today responded to several Chinese media outlets that this is a false rumor and untrue. Microsoft's commitment to providing services to Chinese users is unwavering, it said.
According to previous media reports, the updated agreement was released on August 1, 2020, with an effective date of October 1, 2020. Some of the media quoted headlines translated as "New Microsoft Statement: No Liability if Windows Supplied to China Stops".
If fact, in the Limitation of Liability option in the Microsoft Services Agreement, there is indeed language stating that Microsoft will not be responsible or liable for any failure or delay in performance of its obligations due to circumstances beyond Microsoft's reasonable control. Microsoft will use its best efforts to mitigate the impact of these events and to perform its unaffected obligations.
However, this is not actually the latest content of Microsoft's agreement. The wording is identical to what Microsoft released on July 1, 2019. Microsoft has cited the statement in question since at least 2016.
In addition, there are 14 new items in Microsoft's updated service agreement, but most of them are changes to the relevant business line content regulations, and no similar expressions such as "does not support Windows services" can be found.
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