Days after visiting with South Korean leaders and praising them for their progress on the intellectual property enforcement front, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman admonished the Chinese government for its failure to provide adequate protections for IP rights. Berman and others met Thursday with the National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, NPC Foreign Affairs Chairman Li Zhaoxing, Foreign Affairs Minister Yang Jiechi and Commerce Minister Chen Deming in Beijing.
"China's efforts to stop intellectual property theft have been weak and ineffective - heavy on tough talk but light on implementation," said Berman, whose congressional district houses a number of TV and movie studios. "Hundreds of Web sites provide downloads and links to pirated movies, recordings and games. And sales of 'hard goods' such as illegally duplicated CDs and DVDs continue at close to ninety percent of what they were before China launched its vaunted anti-piracy campaign. It's time for more serious action."
Optical disc plants in China produce and export millions of CDs, DVDs, software and videogames in violation of Chinese law, his office said, while Web services such as Baidu provide direct links to recordings and video games without paying the people who produced them. The country's infamous track record for IP infringement costs U.S. creative communities anywhere from $2.2 to $3.5 billion in each of the past four years, Berman said, urging Chinese authorities to impose stiff fines and meaningful criminal penalties. The country routinely ranks among the world's top offenders in evaluations of global IP like the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual "Special 301" report.
In other IP news, think tank Knowledge Ecology has requested a meeting with USTR, State Department and potentially Patent and Trademark Office officials to discuss elements of the Philippines so-called "out of cycle review" by the U.S. government. The group is concerned that officials are putting pressure on the Philippines that runs counter to promises made to developing countries in the context of 2001 international trade and IP declarations. "We do not want the U.S. government to use its massive power to discourage the Philippines government from improving access to new medicines," KEI's James Love wrote in a letter to USTR officials.
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Responded on November 20, 2009 8:52 PM
Jackie
I think that this is crazy - Everyone should have the right to surf the internet and be able to have freedom. This isnt the middle ages, people these days have the right to knowlege and to express themselves. I hope that things change in the future for China!
Altinkum
Responded on November 17, 2009 7:43 PM
Joe
Have you ever heard about the great firewall in China? They are notorious for blocking their citizens from full access to the internet. I run a website called locksmart 24hr locksmith and I let all of my employees have full access when they are on break or their own time. People have a right to know the truth! Hopefully the people of China get their freedom.
Responded on November 14, 2009 11:02 AM
James
Yes, the Chinese are well known for ignoring intectual property rights. I personally think that the U.S. has a duty to protect the rights of its own companies. This is just about money, the Chineese economy would lose big bucks coming into their economy if they stopped this. I personally like to play bingo online, and not steal anyones property rights. Its a sad thing.