Shanghaiist: The double-edged sword of piracy

nanheyangrouchuan

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 07:16:19 +0800

"Why would many people do IP theft like Nigerians and Why would people in China ignore the issue of copy right protections. And is there a reason in perticular that we do not hear issues like these going on in Europe or North America?" Because the IP theft victim can sue the pirates and make them pay back tons of money.

usagi

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 05:02:17 +0800

There are a lot of problems about copy rights' issues. such as ideas, really can not be properly protected. only things such are labels, patents, etc. the word 'stealing' is a relative term, after all, Bill Gates did Borrow Steve Jobs' idea for... we should know what it's for. Why would many people do IP theft like Nigerians and Why would people in China ignore the issue of copy right protections. And is there a reason in perticular that we do not hear issues like these going on in Europe or North America? It goes far beyond a habitual culture movement, it is directly related to their understandings of value in the society.

steve

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 03:55:48 +0800

The issue isn't really pirate dvd's, but what the original article was talking about - industrial innovations. Those already get passed around easily by blatant theft, reverse engineering, and luring employees to your company, and the profits from innovation are gone quickly. The same thing happens with brands - look what happened to the 土家饼 craze earlier this year - the sucessful franchise got copied by lots of small operators with low quality product and the entire thing collapsed . . . Look at countries with even more blatant IP theft like Nigeria and you see businessmen just compete by stealing ideas instead of investing things. And look at Nigeria to see what the result of that is for the country as a whole . . .

mememem

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 00:10:54 +0800

You said: "So the next time you sit down to watch your pirated copy of MI:3 [...]latest releases of Adobe Premier and Microsoft Office [..]think about the software designers and independent filmmakers you are marginalising with your actions." ????? If I pirate MI:3, Adobe Premier, Microsoft Office, I do not give money to already very rich company (Microsoft makes around 60-70% profit on MS Office). So by not giving money to them, I help the competitors... So, I help the progress... Do not mix big profitable company and independent filmmakers, It is totally different! For the first one buying fake goods just make their abnormal profit (because quasi-monopoly) a little lower.... buying fake goods of Independent filmmakers harm their independent production. I have no problem to pirate the big companies, but I have for the small independent companies. 88

Nick

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 23:53:01 +0800

You are mixing things up. Middle class Chinese earn more than 4000 RMB a month each. The middle class also all have health insurance with Ping An. Middle class Chinese eat out often at places that are more than 25 RMB per person. This is Shanghainese middle class of course. Many more people in other places don't have education or healthcare at all, but that's another story.

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:51:21 +0800

Rampant piracy also reveals the ugly truth that the Chambers of Commerce refuse to acknowledge, the wages of the "middle class" are more hype than hope and that if it weren't for knock-off DVDs, name brand clothes, watches and other items the middle class wouldn't spend much at all, because on 4000 RMB a month, after rent, utilities and food, few can afford to buy anything legitimate at the prices that foreign merchandisers are asking. The price of a legit DVD is 25 RMB, that is dinner for a family of 3 at a street side vendor or one extra value meal at McDs. Food or DVD? Oh, yeah, then the middle class has to save since few if any have health insurance and you need to have some cash for taking bosses and friends to face-building dinners.

Jeff Jorve

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:26:11 +0800

Hmmmm. The purpose of this article was not to point the accusatory finger or spawn defensiveness amongst the KaDe Club faithful. Spending Rmb5 on a western DVD is not hurting anyone's margins--Western films are still operating on huge budgets, enjoying long runs at the box office and increasing sales through a variety of legitimate channels (DVD sales, rentals, online downloads, etc). The point is that the practice of piracy is not protecting the domestic market. Software, as DiligenceChina has pointed out, is almost a non-issue with the market share that Microsoft enjoys thanks to rampant piracy of its OS over the last 15 years. The film industry is another story. Chinese films do not have the same resources, nor can they be guaranteed the same sales and distribution channels, that their Western counterparts enjoy. So while Western filmmaking thrives despite Chinese piracy, Chinese filmmakers have had to change their model--more lower budget films hitting the market at a faster pace in order to compensate for lack of box office revenue and a virtual vacuum of post-release sales channels (neither DVD and download pirates are known to pay royalties). So you don't have the same amount of time, money and energy being put into films as you do in the West. Tim, I certainly see your point that technological R&D in China is only going to become relevant when Chinese companies/consumers are on the short end of the stick. Take the recent IPR case brought by a Chinese company in the States over copyright infringement on the production of flash memory. Anyway, the point being.... food for thought, right?

Tim

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:03:05 +0800

Lack of financial resources fosters innovation in China? Perhaps. But I doubt that lack of financial resources actually provides the carrot to motivate thinkers, innovators and inventors to push their own new products, but rather ways to adopt proven technologies to new means, or to lower costs of manufacturing. Inventing a new concept takes time & money, and the rewards isn't guarranteed. That's the old story around the world, but there's a sharper edge here in China due to a fostered piracy environment nourished by lax enforcement of IP laws. IP protection will only mean something when it is the Chinese consumer/inventor/corporation that is missing out. Then you'll start to see increased and significant R&D budgets in Chinese businesses and MNCs based in China. Time and money is another interesting facet to keep in consideration here. I don't see any businesses involved in R&D only here, but rather those that have a major manufacturing bent. The money assigned to the R&D pool here from such companies is far far less per effective spending power. R&D isn't taken seriously here at all due to the overwhelming bait of cheap manufacturing. Generally, an R&D center is tacked onto a major investment in manufacturing. Current levels of R&D are often fuelled at a 'face value' so companies can make the various government planning sectors look progressive and also gain subsidised access to Chinese high-tech zones for future times when R&D is finally supported with gusto here.

Nick

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:30:15 +0800

People realise the 'cost' of getting fake stuff. Personally I couldn't care less how many companies and dreams I shatter by buying a 5 RMB DVD in China instead of a 300 RMB back home.

Peter

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:53:20 +0800

Personally, I think pirated DVDs are great. The massive horizontal flow of cultural information between east and west via DVD pirating, in the long run, will do more to create peace on earth than our elected (or otherwise) leaders and diplomats. Through pirated DVDs, Chinese learn about the west, and the western world experience becomes their world experience. Years ago when Bill Gates was first apprised of Windows software pirating, his response was to let it happen. Let them familiarize themselves with Microsoft. It's all about those little brain scheams in our brains that work like our own personal operating system. Come cash in later, Gates decided, but for now, just let the people become accustomed to it. I don't think humans can be trusted to avoid IPR issues. People are going to make copies of DVDs and people are going to buy them. High media lawsuits won't solve the problem either. The only way to do it is through better technology. But really, in the end, I'm all for the horizontal cultural flow of information, and less about that $2.7B (boo hoo).

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:46:44 +0800

Would "China Star" have any relation to "Word Star"? Word Star was THE office package to have, ran on early versions of windows, IBM, AT&T, Radio Shack, TI and Apple. It too was stable and cheap.