Tough measures to protect IPR
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-23 14:00
A model of ARJ21-700B
turbine-fan regional jet is displayed on November 4, 2005, at
the Shanghai Industrial Expo. It is reported on February 22, 2006 that
China's first proprietary ARJ airplane will be put into production and
currently 90 percent of the materials for the airplane have been purchased
or ordered. [newsphoto] | 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.
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