China should take tougher measures to protect intellectual
property rights, says a commentary in the Oriental Morning
Post. An excerpt follows:
The National Copyright Administration said last week that since
September, 172 cases of Internet copyright infringement had been
investigated, and 76 websites had been shut down.
This is the biggest action taken against Internet copyright
infringement activities in China. And it is noteworthy that 14
cases were investigated after requests from overseas companies. It
demonstrates the Chinese Government's determination to protect
intellectual property rights (IPR) and fulfil its commitment to the
international community.
Internet copyright infringement is a worldwide conundrum. For
China, it is a new paradox at a time when many traditional IPR
problems are not yet solved.
Compared with traditional copyright infringement activities, it
is more difficult to identify Internet copyright infringement. And
related laws and regulations need to be improved. But still,
determination on the basis of law is the key to curbing such
infringement activities.
China is to carry out a regulation for protecting copyrights on
the Internet this year and the government has promised to join the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty
and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. This demonstrates the
country's determination to improve its copyright protection and
shorten its gap with the international community in this aspect.
But the implementation of the rules will be even more
difficult.
In a sense, much of the pressure for China to improve its
copyright protection comes from itself than from the outside world.
There are a lot of "made-in-China" products but very few
"invented-in-China" ones. The inadequate intellectual property
protection has weakened the drive for technological innovation in
the country.
The government has just put forward the goal of building an
"innovation-oriented country." Obviously, without effective
protection of IPR, it can hardly be achieved.
(China Daily February 23, 2006)