CNN Money – November 23, 2006:

Mapuche Indians in Chile are trying to take Microsoft to court in a legal battle that raises the question of whether anyone can ever “own” the language they speak.

The row was sparked by Microsoft’s decision last month to launch its Windows software package in Mapuzugun, a Mapuche tongue spoken by around 400,000 indigenous Chileans, mostly in the south of the country.

At the launch in the southern town of Los Sauces, Microsoft (Charts) said it wanted to help Mapuches embrace the digital age and “open a window so that the rest of the world can access the cultural riches of this indigenous people.”

But Mapuche tribal leaders have accused the U.S. company of violating their cultural and collective heritage by translating the software into Mapuzugun without their permission.

They even sent a letter to Microsoft founder Bill Gates accusing his company of “intellectual piracy.”

The case has sparked comment on Internet blogs. Many Chileans appear to feel it is absurd for the Mapuche to claim the intellectual rights to their language, and say the Indians should be pleased to see it used on the world wide Web.