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US Targeting China In New Anti-Piracy Drive

Posted by samzenpus on from the most-pirated-nation-status dept.

oxide7 writes "The United States will make China 'a significant focus' of its beefed-up efforts to fight global piracy and counterfeiting of US goods ranging from CDs to manufactured products, a US official said on Wednesday. The International Intellectual Property Alliance, which represents US copyright industry groups, has estimated lost sales in China at more than $3.5 billion in 2009 due to piracy of US music, movies and software."

3 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Give it a rest by gizmod · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ah give it a rest allready. Sheesh, when will the US learn that not everyone dances to their tune.

    1. Re:Give it a rest by tnok85 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think most people agree that the US does not produce the best dance music anymore, so I sort of think you're beating a dead horse.

    2. Re:Give it a rest by johnhp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The copyright laws in the US aren't "the tune" of the people. They're just another tool for the rich to extract profit from resources. Just like they drill exploratory oil wells in the search for oil, these attempts to enforce copyright in China are an attempt expand an old game to a new area.

      The level of copyright enforcement in China is probably directly related to how much the industry is willing to pay the enforcers. Share enough of the profits, and I bet China would be happy to send pirates away to a gulag.

      In the long run though, copyright is over. A few major industries will cease to exist in their current form during the next century. All digital content will be considered basically free in a sort of universal public library. What money there is to make will be made by showing movies in theaters, performing live music, and selling physical books to fans of the digital version. I think we'll see a real renaissance once the chains of industry are removed.

      China doesn't respect copyright even to the extent of westerners. Unfortunately for the US, that means they could be first to prosper from this revolution. It may be that in 50 years, Chinese villagers will educate themselves with the best books and movies for free, while we in the US are enslaved under the RIAA's latest hellish plot.