Senators urge international copyright crackdown

U.S. senators urged the Bush administration on Wednesday to increase pressure on Russia and China to respect copyright law, warning that those nations have become havens for movie and software piracy.

Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who chairs the Senate copyright subcommittee, made one of the most ominous statements to date about what might happen if unfettered piracy continues. "Before Russia enters the (World Trade Organization), many of us will have to be convinced that the Russian government is serious about cracking down on the theft of intellectual property," Hatch said during a hearing.

James Mendenhall, the acting general counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative, said his colleagues are hosting a delegation from China this week to talk in part about copyright law. "We're going to be issuing a request through WTO rules seeking additional information from China on the status of enforcement in China," Mendenhall said. (A WTO spokesman later said the talks were still ongoing.)

The USTR recently highlighted the governments of both Russia and China as top copyright offenders. A report in April placed both on a "priority watch list"--along with Brazil, Israel and Indonesia--and plans to wield the WTO apparatus as a lever to force greater compliance with international norms. Another U.S. tactic is to ink free-trade deals including strict copyright regulations with individual nations.

Piracy in China alone costs U.S. companies between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion a year, the USTR says. Industry estimates place Russia's infringement rates last year at 80 percent for motion pictures, 66 percent for records and music, 87 percent for business software, and 73 percent for entertainment software.

Hatch and Vermont's Patrick Leahy, the panel's top Democrat, said that pirated copies of "Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith" already were available on the streets of Beijing and Moscow and expressed frustration about the situation. "What is enough of either a carrot or a stick to make them change, especially when it seems to be governmental policy to allow this?" Leahy asked.

"We've raised the issue at the presidential level, we've put them on the priority watch list," replied Mendenhall. Further progress will take negotiations, WTO pressure and patience, he said.

[unknown unknown]

I wonder why these spoke up...

perhaps it has something to do with the fact copyright interest are some of their top contributers.

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009869&cycle=2004
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009918&cycle=2004

[unknown unknown]

I wonder why these spoke up...

perhaps it has something to do with the fact copyright interest are some of their top contributers.

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009869&cycle=2004
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/indus.asp?CID=N00009918&cycle=2004

[hadaso]

Why should they change?

Why should they change?
What interest have they got in preserving monopoly of US corporations?

"Intelectual property" is no property at all. It is a monopoly granted by a government to preserve some interests. The US government has perhaps some interest in maintaining some of these monoplies to allow US corporations to profit from their products. But most other governments don't have these interests, and thus have no reason to create "property" from what is not "property" to begin with.

Also, the numbers quoted are probably exagerated. Those who buy a software CD for $2 on the streets of Moscow or Beijing would probably not buy the same CD for $100 or even for $10 bucks. If those pirated software CDs would have suddenly disappeared from those streets, the effect would most probably not be that the same amount of software would be sold legally for US prices, but rather that open source solutions would fill that space (which on the long run would be better for Russia/China). Don't forget that most people living in those countries don't earn as much as people in the US and cannot afford to pay for legal US software/music/films etc.

[hadaso]

Why should they change?

Why should they change?
What interest have they got in preserving monopoly of US corporations?

"Intelectual property" is no property at all. It is a monopoly granted by a government to preserve some interests. The US government has perhaps some interest in maintaining some of these monoplies to allow US corporations to profit from their products. But most other governments don't have these interests, and thus have no reason to create "property" from what is not "property" to begin with.

Also, the numbers quoted are probably exagerated. Those who buy a software CD for $2 on the streets of Moscow or Beijing would probably not buy the same CD for $100 or even for $10 bucks. If those pirated software CDs would have suddenly disappeared from those streets, the effect would most probably not be that the same amount of software would be sold legally for US prices, but rather that open source solutions would fill that space (which on the long run would be better for Russia/China). Don't forget that most people living in those countries don't earn as much as people in the US and cannot afford to pay for legal US software/music/films etc.

US, Canada, EU are the biggest software offenders...

These guys are looking for contributions and headlines. If they were interested in solving the problem, they would begin at home first...from Reuters 18 May 2005..."More than one-third of software used in computers around the world last year was pirated, with the European Union, the United States and Canada accounting for more than half the illegal software, according to the study."

[David Arbogast]

Where's the Report?

I think you may be interpreting the study incorrectly. If the US and Canada make up 50% of the software piracy, it means that roughly (assuming equal share) 25% of pirated software exists in the US. Consider... 75% of the software used in the US is legally owned. While this may not be a horrible ratio, I still challenge these numbers because far more studies indicate different numbers.

For example, a study from Australia by the Business Software Alliance ranks China and Vietname as the two largest offenders. According to that study, 92% of the software used in each country is pirated. Meaning that only 8% of the software in use is legal. Ukraine follows at 91%.

You can read the study here.
http://www.bsaa.com.au/downloads/PiracyStudy070704.pdf

Perhaps you will share this mysterious Reuters report so that it can be better evaluated.

US, Canada, EU are the biggest software offenders...

These guys are looking for contributions and headlines. If they were interested in solving the problem, they would begin at home first...from Reuters 18 May 2005..."More than one-third of software used in computers around the world last year was pirated, with the European Union, the United States and Canada accounting for more than half the illegal software, according to the study."

[David Arbogast]

Where's the Report?

I think you may be interpreting the study incorrectly. If the US and Canada make up 50% of the software piracy, it means that roughly (assuming equal share) 25% of pirated software exists in the US. Consider... 75% of the software used in the US is legally owned. While this may not be a horrible ratio, I still challenge these numbers because far more studies indicate different numbers.

For example, a study from Australia by the Business Software Alliance ranks China and Vietname as the two largest offenders. According to that study, 92% of the software used in each country is pirated. Meaning that only 8% of the software in use is legal. Ukraine follows at 91%.

You can read the study here.
http://www.bsaa.com.au/downloads/PiracyStudy070704.pdf

Perhaps you will share this mysterious Reuters report so that it can be better evaluated.

the united states are the rulers of the world

and anybody who doesnt think so is a terrorist or a commie bastard

the united states are the rulers of the world

and anybody who doesnt think so is a terrorist or a commie bastard

The Chinese Don't Care

I am an American currently living and working in Shenzhen,
China. In five minutes I can walk to at least a dozen actual stores
(not to mention the hoards of street peddlers) exclusively selling
illegal CD's and DVD's. Large inventories, staffs and advertising.
Everybody buys their music, movies and software at these
stores. A DVD movie costs 8 yuan (about 1 USD), Microsoft
Office (the latest version) is 20 yuan. The police pass them by
every day, and are probably customers as well. I have to laugh
each time I read an article or Beijing pronouncement citing how
they are working on the problem.

The Chinese Don't Care

I am an American currently living and working in Shenzhen,
China. In five minutes I can walk to at least a dozen actual stores
(not to mention the hoards of street peddlers) exclusively selling
illegal CD's and DVD's. Large inventories, staffs and advertising.
Everybody buys their music, movies and software at these
stores. A DVD movie costs 8 yuan (about 1 USD), Microsoft
Office (the latest version) is 20 yuan. The police pass them by
every day, and are probably customers as well. I have to laugh
each time I read an article or Beijing pronouncement citing how
they are working on the problem.