Microsoft has suspended MSN Juku, its new microblogging service in China, amid allegations that much of the code was lifted from a Canadian startup, Plurk.

The company said it was suspending MSN Juku, which was developed for MSN China by a third-party independent vendor, while it investigated the charges.

"On Monday, December 14, questions arose over a beta application called Juku developed by a Chinese vendor for our MSN China joint venture. We immediately worked with our MSN China joint venture to investigate the situation," Microsoft said in a statement.

"The vendor has now acknowledged that a portion of the code they provided was indeed copied. This was in clear violation of the vendor?s contract with the MSN China joint venture, and equally inconsistent with Microsoft?s policies respecting intellectual property," Microsoft added.

"We will be suspending access to the Juku beta indefinitely."