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Chinese Writers Sue Apple Over IP Violations
hackingbear writes "A group of 22 Chinese authors have filed a claim against Apple, alleging its App Store sells unlicensed copies of their books. The Writers Rights Alliance, founded by Han Han, a young popular Chinese author and the worlds' most popular blogger, who is known for his cynical criticism of the government, petitioned Apple last year to stop electronic distribution of the writers' books and had earlier persuaded Baidu, China's largest search engine, to stop publishing their material on its Baidu Library product."
But information wants to be free! It's ok for someone else to sell that information and not pay you for it because that's what information wants!
If it had been Apple or any other giant corporation who had been wronged, the victor of the case would be clear. I hope this guy wins his case and shows them that individuals have the same rights as giant organizations.
How do you say moron in English?
Do you think any of these authors were doing any infringing themselves, or were you just so desperate to make that predictable joke that you couldn't bother to take your brain out of idiot mode long enough to think about it?
Perhaps a third party publisher who believes they own the rights to publish the writings does, but it sure as hell won't be Apple.
After all, there is only one Chinese person, with only one opinion, isn't there? Just as everybody on /. agrees about everything.
ji1feng3, since you asked. Sorry, /. doesn't seem to let the Chinese script through.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
fengci
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Whoever wrote that doesn't understand ``cynical'' or ``criticism''.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Some third-party publisher, who have no agreement with the original author, uploaded the books to Apple for sale. Apple obliged, found the content to be reasonably tasteful, but didn't check if the third-party holds the copyright. The original author doesn't get a penny from the transaction. What makes it complicated is that Apple makes a percentage of the profit. If the original author did not agree to the profit structure, then Apple becomes an accomplice.
My two minute judgment is that (after completing a motion to discover number of copies sold and transactions made) Apple should reverse any credit deposits to the third-party, and pay for the irreversible parts out of their pocket. Apple should forfeit their share of the proceeds from selling the unlicensed books. Apple will also pay for a small percentage for statutory damage. All these should go to the original author. Then the author has a right to choose whether they want to enter an agreement with Apple to continue selling their books, even negotiate a favorable rate if they want to.
Meanwhile, Apple will be ordered to conduct a copyright check before selling. Apple might even start charging a fee to the publisher. This final point might change digital publishing landscape yet again.
I once had a signature.
Why you posted that? don't you know the predictable joke is modded down on /. ?
The original title is "Chinese writers' group sues Apple: state media", so it's a mistake of the submitter to leave out "group" and not adjusting the verb.
Chinese complaining about someone pirating their stuff.
Here's a tip to Mr. Han. "You live in a country where stealing is endemic. I suggest you move to a country where the law and the government actually care."
Chinese complaining about someone pirating their stuff.
Here's a tip to Mr. Han. "You live in a country where stealing is endemic. I suggest you move to a country where the law and the government actually care."
Do you know who Han Han is?
I thought Intellectual Property laws protected creators from other creators, not from retailers... Apple's terms and conditions clearly state that anything submitted to their store must be legal to sell in the first place. This is a grab for attention, nothing else, and the accusers are only wasting their time.
Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
Quit putting race in a place where it doesn't belong. Even if he could move, his parents would never be allowed to leave the country.
In the case of Han Han, his parents have been threatened professionally because of his writings. Han decided that he would make enough money to convince his parents to quit their day jobs.
Don't hate on people because of what some of their country persons do. Americans have earned the enimity of many overseas because of foreign policies only a few hundred people have any hand in controlling. It's a stupid game people play and I wish they would not.
Han Han deserves to get paid too. He's got this magnificent balance of writing things just acerbic enough to be considered edgy, but not to the point where the authorities want to drag him out into a car and perform a permanent disappearing act. Apple is on a pretty bad losing streak in China as it is, so the vultures are circling.
We need you guys in here to give Han Han and associates a good telling-off on their trampling of personal freedom and attempt at censorship. And also lecture us on how the person/company selling Han Han's works is just as innocent/heroic as Kim Dotcom. Let's go guys!
Oh? Which worlds are included in the statistic? Earth and Mars? First, Second, and Third? All the worlds?
Well, if you cycle it through google translator english=> chinese (traditional or simplified) => english: you get "Satire".
Ironically, Irony doesn't translate.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
Muphry's law's effect is to point out a grammar mistake and switching the tense midsentence.
Ironically, noone uses "ironically" right. Literally noone.
to many Americans the only good CHICOM is a dead CHICOM
the CHICOMs are responsible for the misery of millions of people and have killed untold millions of their own people within the last 60 years
Are you serious? Don't you see ANYTHING wrong with your reasoning?
"Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world. " - Asimov.
Given how the Chinees government and people as a whole have next to no respect for the IP of other nations, it is funny that a citizen of China is suing to protect their IP. The companies in China are well known for stealing the IP of companies from other countries and, on top of that, the government helps and/or participates in it.
It's only ironic if you think that every one of the 1.3 billion people living China is the same, and each is in perfect agreement with their government. I.e., if you are stupid. I should probably also add racist because the former might interfere with some people's ability to figure it out.
And you don't see anything ironic about a Chinese person complaining about piracy? Seriously?
You mean exactly like the US after independence ?
" and the worlds' most popular blogger"
That's like being the world's most formidable Dungeons & Dragon player.
Its the sound of one hand clapping.
Someone ripping off Chinese work?
Oh, the irony.
> world's most popular author
who?
First I've heard of him. I know every blogger in the world.
And you don't see anything hypocritical about an American company pirating someone's IP?
The Writers Rights Alliance, founded by Han Han a young popular Chinese author and the worlds' most popular blogger who is known for his cynical criticism of the government
Criticism of the government makes you a star in China.
Criticism of American policies lands you on the DHS no-fly list.
The same way that not every single American wants to bomb every other country, not every single Chinese makes millions by selling counterfeit products. Writers, in particular, tend to care about intellectual property, so it is not ironic that a writer has an issue with someone making money off his work without his permission. You see, people tend to have different opinions - even if they're Chinese - and what you're doing is stereotyping, putting a billion and a half persons on the same bag (while thinking you and possibly also the people you know are unique snowflakes).
It would be ironic if the guy wrote a book preaching against intellectual property and then sued when someone infringed on his intellectual property.
Nope. Not when it comes to ripping off the Chinese who happily rip everyone else off.
Sorry, it won't matter what your reply is I have zero sympathy for these people.
Nope. Not when it comes to $activity towards $group, who $stereotype_involving_said_activity.
Why stop on just chinese? Would you also condone going for fun looting'n'shooting rides in Harlem? Or, say, military invasion into US to overthrow corrupt regime?
>Do you know who Han Han is?
Of course we do. He's Han Solo's long lost asian brother.
True, but it's still ironic when an American complains about a country invading another country pro-actively yet claiming it's in defense. The common actions of a group that a person belongs to sets the expectations one has about the individual members of that group. Admittedly, that doesn't mean that all members of that group act that way, or that you should treat members of that group as if they WILL behave that way.
That being said, the Chinese government really needs to follow the rules of IP that other countries generally do if they want to be able to expect those other countries to treat the IP of their citizens with any respect.
how you say irony in chinese?
I'd tell you, but slashdot still doesn't support unicode. It's pronounced "fanfeng" or there abouts.
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
If I had points, I'd mod you down.
What's wrong with not respecting IP laws? I think Chinese are smart to do this. Why not take piece of that pie if you can. The more rediculous shit going there, the better it is for everyone.
I don't mean to sound too cynical, but what laws are being applied? Chinese laws? US laws? Some laws invented by the "disinterested" UN? IANAL, but I think there needs to be clear indication that China had laws on the books to uphold intellectual property rights of citizens, and the suit needs to happen in Chinese courts. Alternatively, these authors could file suit using US laws, but then they would have to do it in US courts.
That being said, the Chinese government really needs to follow the rules of IP that other countries generally do if they want to be able to expect those other countries to treat the IP of their citizens with any respect.
That's not likely to happen.
U.S. courts are notorious for ignoring foreign countries IP. You don't hear much about it because smaller nations can't really throw any weight to protect their "rights". The Chinese have that weight and a willingness to copy, not only the products, but also the behaviour of the U.S.
Unless there is a large policy-change in the courts of the U.S. then I wouldn't expect the Chinese to do anything but symbolic attempts to uphold the IP of other nations.
Trolls everywhere. How about you dive down my septic tank, and rescue your fucking "politically correct" shit?
This is supposedly a site where people actually think, and discuss ideas. Political correctness has no place on such a site. Political correctness is a tool with which to keep the masses of sheep in line. It is worth less than shit to a thinking person.
The problem is that with this being China, it's not clear to me that Apple has actually violated any copyright law. For example, the business that was selling these works on Apple's App Store may have had copyright at the time, but had it taken away from them and transferred to this "Writers Rights Alliance" without their knowledge. Or they may still have the copyright and still be legally able to sell on the App Store. Or they might never have had the copyright, but did have the assistance from appropriate Chinese officials to make it look like they did own those copyrights.
There's some serious games that can be played here.
That's not the definition of irony. That's the idiot's definition of irony. http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&site=&source=hp&q=irony&oq=irony&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=592l1387l0l1647l5l5l0l0l0l0l72l350l5l5l0&gs_l=hp.3..0l10.592l1387l0l1648l5l5l0l0l0l0l72l350l5l5l0.frgbld.
education it's free.
Not sure, but with a Chinese accent, it's ILONY
Well, well ...
Predictable as always
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Apple as distributing IP which he did not have the right to distribute should pay , as little people do, 262000 time the amount the original IP cost.
Apparently people and groups in China suing Apple for cash (which has close to $100B on hand) is now a thing — witness the lawsuit filed by flat-ass broke Proview over the iPad name it gave up the rights to years ago (via a Taiwan subsidiary so it could try to hide the money Apple paid it from its creditors).
This sounds like a nuisance lawsuit filed against a big company specifically to try to extort a cash settlement out of convenience, rather than suing the actual copyright infringer (which is probably not as well-financed and may not even be known to the "authors' group"). I think they're in for a surprise when they get to court.
Prevent Windows piracy. Use Linux instead.
Trolls everywhere. How about you dive down my septic tank, and rescue your fucking "politically correct" shit?
This is supposedly a site where people actually think, and discuss ideas. Political correctness has no place on such a site. Political correctness is a tool with which to keep the masses of sheep in line. It is worth less than shit to a thinking person.
Have you thought?
Being politically incorrect is one thing, being ignorant is worse. Do you really know what happened before they sued apple? Have it not crossed your mind that their motivation is genuine?
Also, I don't understand why English speakers are so proud when they find any mistakes in an article written by non-native English speakers? Think about this: There are more Chinese people who can speak English, well or not, than any other people who can speak Chinese. If anything, you should be humbled by the knowledge non-native English speakers.
See, this is the problem with stereotypes. There is nothing ironic at all about a Chinese person complaining about piracy because we don't know if the people complaining about piracy are the same people who are pirating. It might be true and you may think it is true but until you establish that, a Chinese person complaining about piracy shouldn't be ironic in itself. We all like to be treated as individuals when negative presumptions are concerned. It's like saying that it is ironic that an American is complaining about torture in another country. I can condemn torture anywhere I see it -- regardless of whether my own country is doing it -- because I'm not the one doing the torturing. My own behavior is consistent.
Now, you may rightly argue that it is ironic that someone is demanding justice when piracy hurts them personally but remains silent when someone else is the victim of piracy. If this is the case, then we are all guilty of this type of irony. It is so common, maybe 'irony' is not the appropriate word. Maybe we're all just hypocrites to some extent.
how you say irony in chinese?
Not sure, but with a Chinese accent, it's ILONY
Ironically, "IRONY" is one of the few English words which most Chinese speakers will be abe to pronounce nearly perfectly, as it lacks consonant clusters, and ends on a vowel.
Almost all computers in China have illegal copies of Windows, so chances are they wrote those books while breaking copyright.
It's also well known that big companies in the "west" rip off citizens, domestic and abroad, by squeezing their workforce and swindle them out of their resources, and the government helps and/or participates in it. So I guess it should be OK if I went and swindled the average mom'n'pop shop out of their life savings?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It should have been illegal for a long time to switch tenses within a sentence.
Oh, the beautiful gloss of greality!
And with legions of lawyers under their employ, Apple certainly can bring the heat right back to anybody to bring up legal challenges against them. They are verifiable masters of the courtroom with bottomless pockets.
How do you say moron in English?
You say it like, "Whoosh".
> it lacks consonant clusters, and ends on a vowel
Can you elaborate on how this influences pronunciation? (I am genuinely curious.)
Information does want to be free - that's why you have to try so hard to control its spread.
Private information, being much easier (in fact the default: I'm secure because nobody can be arsed looking me up) to keep control doesn't want to be free. And, to be honest, absolutely no laws are made to enshrine that security. The laws against harvesting/selling/using private information is based on what you do with it. I.e. use it to pretend you're someone else to spend their money: Fraud.
Doesn't matter if your T&C say that it's not your fault, you're in for handling stolen goods.
And remember, in the USA, merely POINTING to something that MAY infringe is enough to get you extradited to face criminal charges.
Ironry ;-)
There are 2 groups of people you can make fun of on the Internet without fear of attack. The illiterate, and the Amish.
Why stop on just chinese?
'Cause the article was about Chinese writers. It wasn't about a problem in Harlem or a corrupt US regime.
Ironically, they all do.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony
High five?
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
yes but now they can delete posts /. discussions via a popularity contest vote (lets be honest, thats what the "flag this comment as inappropriate" is used for MOST of the time.
so, YOU CAN COMMENT AND EXPRESS YOURSELF ON SLASHDOT, AS LONG AS YOUR COMMENTS FALL IN LINE...
Bla bla bla bla, apple excuses.
Had this been a person, they'd be looking at a 30 million dollar fine and 20 years in prison.
Chinese never end syllables with a consonant (except "n" or "ng"). So if you have a consonant cluster, it will sound totally alien to a Chinese speaker. They aren't used to pronouncing things that way. It's like trying to say a German word (like "AngstschweiB") you are English.
So they tend to insert vowels, to break up the clusters. "He-lo, my name-a is Li, and-a my En-ga-lish-a isa not-a so good-a."
On the other hand, the word "Irony" will sound like three Chinese words stitched together (maybe "ai re ni" - "love, hot, you").