Worldwide Update
China |India | France | Mexico| The Netherlands
CHINA
New Crackdown on Piracy
China’s government has announced a new crackdown on rampant illegal copying of products from software to music that is adding to tensions with the US and other governments over trade and currency complaints.
Trade groups have insisted Chinese piracy of software and some other goods is growing despite repeated promises to stamp it out. The WTO (World Trade Organization) sided with the US in January 2010 in a complaint that Beijing was failing to enforce patents, copyrights and trademarks aggressively enough.
Announced on November 30, 2010, the latest six-month campaign will target illegally copied or phony goods as varied as software, Internet materials, medicines and corn that is falsely labeled as organic, deputy commerce minister, Jiang Zengwei, said at a news conference. He promised closer cooperation with the US, Japan and Europe.
The share of PCs in China with legitimate operating systems rose from 87.7 percent in 2007 to 98 percent last year, according to Chinese officials. Still, some 79 percent of software used in China last year was illegally copied, according to the BSA (Business Software Alliance).
The Star, November 30, 2010 (AP)
INDIA
Google Combats Piracy
Google Inc. has launched a music service in India to help users search for legal online streams and downloads, a move aimed at combating rampant digital piracy that has held back the country’s entertainment industry.
The US tech giant partnered with three digital music providers who together have the rights to hundreds of thousands of Indian tracks, from Bollywood hits to Indian classical tunes. Google first made the service available on October 15, 2010 and has since integrated it into its main search bar.
When Internet users in India type a song into Google’s search bar, the top links in response are now from Google’s partners, including India’s largest music label, Saregama India Ltd., New York-based media company Saavn, and Web portal In.com. Clicking on a link will launch a pop-up music player where the requested content is streamed for free.
Global interest in Indian music has increased in recent years as it has received greater exposure through films such as Oscar-winner “Slumdog Millionaire.” However, piracy in the form of knock-off CDs and dozens of websites peddling illegal downloads, has stunted the Indian market. Despite piracy, India’s domestic music market is expected to grow to $590 million by 2014, and much of the growth is likely to come from the wireless industry. Sales of ringtones and songs to the nation’s 670 million cell phone users already make up 30% of overall music industry sales.
Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2010 (Amol Sharma)
FRANCE
Second Wave of Warnings Issued
French authorities have advanced to the second stage of enforcement of the controversial HADOPI law, under which Internet users suspected of illegal file-sharing could end up having their Internet connection suspended.
After starting to send warning emails on October 5, 2010, the authorities have announced that they are sending out a second wave of emails accompanied by a certified letter. If violators continue to illegally download copyrighted material, the HADOPI’s Rights Protection Commission (CPD) can then ask a judge to order their Internet Service Provider to disconnect them for a month.
According to CPD president Mireille Imbert-Quaretta, 70,000 Internet users have so far received an initial warning email under HADOPI’s “graduated response” procedure. The 70,000 email warnings so far sent are the outcome of 100,000 requests to ISPs to identify suspected offenders from IP addresses. Imbert-Quaretta still hopes to reach the rate of 10,000 warnings a day, the volume cited when parliament debated the HADOPI law.
“Less than 10% of those who were sent warnings (about 7,000 people), got back to us directly,” Imbert-Quaretta said. “Three quarters of them asked us to identify the offending material, while the others disputed the claim or suggested that their computers must have been hacked.”
Reporters Without Borders, January 17, 2011
MEXICO
Prison for 14 Pirates
A Mexican judge in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico has sentenced 14 music pirates to five years and three months in prison after they were found guilty of copyright infringement in violation of the Mexican Federal Criminal Code. The judge also ordered each defendant to pay a fine of $4,000. The trial took place on October 15, 2010 and was the culmination of a case that began on July 20, 2009. On this date, the 14 individuals were arrested in an anti-piracy operation that was conducted by the Mexican Army.
During the raid, the army dismantled 16 laboratories and 23 warehouses located in Monterrey City that allegedly were under the control of a major criminal organization, which is committed to illegal drug trafficking. The operation led to the seizure of 1,180 CD burners, 3,141,273 recorded CDRs, 3,268 blank CDs, one plotter machine, 20 automated serigraphy machines, two kilos of marijuana, one laptop, one firearm, radios, cell phones, and motor vehicles. The pirates were kept in protective custody while awaiting trial. They are now serving their sentences in the detention center, “Centro de Reinsercion Social” in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon.
IFPI.org, November 23, 2010
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THE NETHERLANDS
“Black on White” Campaign Against Software Piracy
The BSA (Business Software Alliance) has launched a new campaign in the Netherlands to fight against corporate software piracy. From mid-January 2011, the BSA campaign “Black on White” will try to get the attention of consumers through direct and viral marketing as well as radio commercials.
According to the BSA, the use of pirated software is unfair competition and leads to the loss of jobs. The organization hopes the campaign will encourage people to report software piracy.
“The impact of software piracy on the economy and unfair competition should be enough reason to sign on,” says Alastair de Wet, president of the BSA Committee in the Netherlands. “We think that if companies see that the BSA encourages the reporting of piracy, they will make sure that they are immediately compliant. I understand that for some people it is a big step to report software piracy, but not reporting it is unjust for many companies that do use legal software.”
Informants can now fill in a form on the BSA website. If their tips lead to damages paid by the offending companies, the informants can earn up to 10% of the fines paid, with a maximum of €10,000 (US $13,500).
Dutch Daily News, January 17, 2011