China arrests 2,600 in piracy crackdown

[BJ_M]

Authorities destroy 63 mil CDs and DVDs




BEIJING -- China has arrested 2,600 people in an eight-month crackdown on product piracy, the government said Tuesday, criticizing U.S. complaints that it is failing to stop rampant copying of foreign movies, music and other goods.

Authorities have destroyed 63 million CDs and other counterfeit goods estimated to be worth ¥860 million ($105 million), vice commerce minister Zhang Zhigang said during a nationally televised news conference.

Zhang acknowledged China still faces "quite a few problems," but he criticized the United States for adding Beijing to a list of 14 countries that receive special scrutiny due to widespread violation of copyrights and other intellectual property rights.

"China has made great efforts to promote (intellectual property rights) protection," Zhang said. "Under such circumstances, to accuse China of misconduct or lack of protection of IPR is unreasonable."

The U.S. said in April that product piracy in China had reached "epidemic levels" and has warned Beijing that it could face formal complaints in the World Trade Organization, raising the threat of trade sanctions.

China is regarded as the world's biggest source of illegally copied goods. Estimates of potential lost sales to legitimate producers worldwide range from $16 billion to as much as $50 billion a year. China's own producers of music, software and other goods have said they also suffer huge losses.

Authorities have brought 600 criminal cases against product pirates since the crackdown began in August, and have won convictions in 99.9% of cases, said Shen Deyong, deputy chief judge of China's high court, who appeared at the news conference with Zhang. Shen didn't say how many people were convicted or what penalties they received.

Zhang said 41 local officials also were punished for helping product pirates, and that Chinese authorities have dismantled 24 illegal CD factories -- a key demand of U.S. officials, who say seizing pirated discs makes little sense if the factories that make them are still operating.

Beijing plans to extend the crackdown through the end of the year, Zhang said. "We'll be looking for a solution to address the root cause of the IPR problem, and have increased our public education efforts."

[oldfart13]

Well, get them to sign International Intellectual Property and Patent agreements. Taiwan still won't sign though. Pirated everything is rampant in China though for just about anything: cars, TVs, jewelry, clothes, etc. What Communist Party members may be involved and to what extent is never revealed. Like the article says, no penalties and no names given, so we have no way to gauge what is really going on with prevention. All we can see is what they want us to see...

[gadgetguy]

Forgive my ignorance, but how can the term "Intellectual Property Rights" have any meaning in a Communist society? Doesn't Communisim negate the very concept?

[oldfart13]

Well, things are changing over there. Mao would have had the membership shot for allowing private ownership of land again. That was one of the big things he fought against. Private collection of wealth was another. Guess how many of the upper membership of the Party are Billionaires now?

[BJ_M]

Well, things are changing over there. Mao would have had the membership shot for allowing private ownership of land again. That was one of the big things he fought against. Private collection of wealth was another. Guess how many of the upper membership of the Party are Billionaires now?

MANY (as in most) of the Billionaires are not in the upper membership of the Party

[AlecWest]

Forgive my ignorance, but how can the term "Intellectual Property Rights" have any meaning in a Communist society? Doesn't Communisim negate the very concept?

Under pure Communism, yes. But China is slowly trying to join the world economy as a "full" partner. And, as much as they can, they're trying to recognize values outside China that are not acceptable inside China.

The bugaboo is that while China is starting to recognize "infringement" as an issue, the cases they're pursuing are direct infringement cases, not contributory infringement cases. This may eventually change but I doubt if it will in the near future. The people they are going after now have tangible items on the black market ... but the current mentality over there has a hard time grasping the intangible. In short, people cranking out counterfiet DVDs/CDs had better watch out. But for now, people creating the software allowing the cranking-out to take place aren't being pursued at all. As an example, I think the creator of DVDfab Decrypter has nothing to worry about.

[junkmalle]

China is slowly trying to join the world economy as a "full" partner. And, as much as they can, they're trying to recognize values outside China that are not acceptable inside China.

They're just trying to make it look like they recognize IP rights so the west keeps investing in China and buying their goods.

[BJ_M]

It is the other way around-
75-90% of the time now ... china is investing in the west

[AlecWest]

china is investing in the west

"Investing in" ... or "buying up" the west?

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/12009066.htm

[vitualis]

China is communism in name only... a means to maintain a totalitarian government. Economically, China has long headed down the path of capitalism.

Regards.

[CuCuy]

They certainly have no problems with buying huge amounts of U.S. national debt.

[AlecWest]

Economically, China has long headed down the path of capitalism.

Yes ... but cautiously. They saw what happened to Russia after the Soviet Union dissolved. Take away totalitarianism and "private" corruption (as opposed to "state-allowed" corruption) can flourish. Playing the devil's advocate, there's one good thing about totalitarianism ... that corruption is the sole province of the ruling government. Add private corruption into the mix and all Hell breaks loose.

Case in point. When the Taliban was in charge in Afghanistan, opium production ground to a near halt:

http://opioids.com/afghanistan/

It could be said that the reason the U.S. found so much support within Afghanistan for toppling the Taliban was because most of the Mujahadeen were beholding to tribal warlords who lost a lot of money when opium operations were curtailed ... knowing that a "free" society would allow them to get back into the biz. And, that's just what happened:

http://opioids.com/afghanistan/opium-economy.html

In 2001, no significant opium production took place. But after the Taliban was ousted ... well, here's a snippet from that last article:

The political fate of the governor of Ghor province, Ebrahim Malakzada, is a telling example of what can happen to those who try to stop farmers from growing poppies.

"This year, the only person who said not to grow opium was the governor," said Ashrafy, the Ghor poppy farmer. "He met with the elders and told them not to let people grow poppies. Then a commander chased him out, and he had to flee."

So, I imagine China is treading softly in allowing too many Western-style freedoms too soon ... especially since their history has involved a little opium trade, too. Damned if you do ... damned if you don't.

[ukb007]

Communism or Capitalism crap aside...isn't it plain criminal if somebody else profits by your hard work? Just think about it from an ethical/moral standpoint. You don't need to be Capitalist to give due credit in terms of praise and money. You owe it even if you are a communist. Chekov's writings were a huge market in the USSR, but they still sold in the name of Anton Chekov, not in the name of the people of the USSR.

Thanks.

[pchan]

Arrest 2,600 s/w pirates.....

There will be another 260,000 waiting to replace these s/w pirates.

The rural unemployment is sky high.... they flood to the cities and not be able to find jobs..... selling fake stuff is the next best profession.

Justice system is still very patchy.... Murderers were executed, and later the victims(those allegedly killed by the murderers) were still found alive somewhere !

[vitualis]

Communism or Capitalism crap aside...isn't it plain criminal if somebody else profits by your hard work? Just think about it from an ethical/moral standpoint.

Is it criminal for an individual or corporation to withhold knowledge that would benefit the rest of society so that he/she/it can personally benefit from it (e.g., refusing to allow generic drugs in poor countries)??

Ethics and morals are relative, not absolute.

Try to remember that copyright laws were initally created to protect society from the loss of knowledge, from publishing guilds that would lock away books and manuscripts "forever". The important part of copyright laws are that they expire and the intellectual property then goes into the public domain.

Regards.

[handyguy]

2,600 might seem like alot but not when you consider they have like 1.4B people.

[ukb007]

Is it criminal for an individual or corporation to withhold knowledge that would benefit the rest of society so that he/she/it can personally benefit from it (e.g., refusing to allow generic drugs in poor countries)??

Yes, witholding it will be criminal, but not if he sold it to make a profit.

Thanks.

[vitualis]

What if the price is artifically set to such a level such that the most needy could not possibly afford it?

Furthermore, what if you then deliberate set legal obstacles so that third parties who could provide the same product but limited to within the scope of that "needy" market are forbidden from doing so?

Regards.

[ukb007]

Yeah. Unfair. Tough luck and all that. That's how the world operates. Didn't you notice?

The US Air Force supposedly spends the budget of UNICEF once every four minutes. Think about AIDS drugs that the rich companies controlled, until there was holy rukus forcing changes in policy...

Guys, let's take care from this point onwards, all of us. Are we edging towards politics? The line's so thin sometimes. The Mods request no political discussions, and I think they're right...

Thanks.

[satviewer2000]

This article would have one believe that China is the only country in the world where "piracy" is rampant. But based on all the teens downloading MP3's, movies, DVD's, etc in North America, could one not say that "piracy" is also rampant in N. America? And after all, who cracked the DSS coding on DVD's, a kid in the Netherlands, rather far from the Far East.

The problem comes down not to whether piracy is wrong or not (and ethically it is wrong), but rather whether it is possible to prevent piracy. Don't we in effect commit piracy when we photocopy a book in the library, or sing the lyrics of a song?

[adam]

Don't we in effect commit piracy when we photocopy a book in the library, or sing the lyrics of a song?

No. Neither of those are piracy in any country that I know of but I get your point. People infringe copyrights all the time, sometimes without realizing it...but then in most countries you'd never be charged criminally for something like that. I really don't think the issue is whether piracy (the criminal kind) can be stopped though. Name one crime that can.

Piracy is definitely rampant in N. America, and its definitely rampant in many other countries besides China. Its just that advances in technology have pushed the issue to the forefront. With China its actually different. They are just now getting free trade agreements with places like the US and Australia and in order to keep this trade open they have to start enforcing intellectual property laws, and in a pretty visible way. Some would say China is going to the extreme, but then again they really do have a major problem to deal with.

[Nilfennasion]

What if the price is artifically set to such a level such that the most needy could not possibly afford it?

You have hit the nail on the head for me, and probably most other Aspies. In Australia particularly, the price charged for most of these goods is such that it is often cheaper to import some items. Australia's economy is such that it would probably prefer a piracy problem to one with parallel imports gone rampant.

[BJ_M]

Don't we in effect commit piracy when we photocopy a book in the library, or sing the lyrics of a song?

No. Neither of those are piracy in any country that I know of but I get your point. People infringe copyrights all the time, sometimes without realizing it...but then in most countries you'd never be charged criminally for something like that. I really don't think the issue is whether piracy (the criminal kind) can be stopped though. Name one crime that can.

Piracy is definitely rampant in N. America, and its definitely rampant in many other countries besides China. Its just that advances in technology have pushed the issue to the forefront. With China its actually different. They are just now getting free trade agreements with places like the US and Australia and in order to keep this trade open they have to start enforcing intellectual property laws, and in a pretty visible way. Some would say China is going to the extreme, but then again they really do have a major problem to deal with.

there are some people who firmly believe that china is secretly allowing such piracy to undermine usa economy .... it has been said that they are holding gas to 1.68 gallon (in china) no mater the cost for the same reason ... as well holding a great amount of western debt (and purchasing usa based corps) ..

this is not based on just rumours , but actual statements made by high up offcials ...... stuff like this makes you wonder
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/28cfe55a-f4a7-11d9-9dd1-00000e2511c8.html

[adam]

It wouldn't suprise me. China is a country on the move. They are trying to be a superpower. They need our help, but they'd also screw us if given the chance. I'm sure we're (US) the same way with them too..

[valterroque]

It is the other way around-
75-90% of the time now ... china is investing in the west

UNFORTUNATLY (here in Portugal/Europe), they just investing in commercial shops to sell them products, and the only jobs they create is for them own
people.