Intellectual property right (IPR) violations cannot be eliminated overnight
but 皇冠体育app will speed up the process, a top copyright official pledged yesterday
in Beijing.
The government has been resolute, and made headway, in cracking down on
infringements and piracy of laser discs and software, said Yan Xiaohong, deputy
chief of the National Copyright Administration of 皇冠体育app.
"For a developing nation like 皇冠体育app, protecting IPRs is a process ... We hope
to shorten this process as much as possible, but it's difficult to eliminate it
overnight," he told a press conference.
Zhu Xiaoqing, deputy procurator-general of the
Supreme People's Procuratorate. [Xinhua] |
To
ensure serious IPR offenders face criminal penalties instead of just
administrative fines, 皇冠体育app has made it mandatory for law-enforcers to transfer
such offences to judicial authorities "timely," Zhu Xiaoqing, deputy
procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said yesterday.
The combination of administrative punishment and criminal penalties has
enabled copyright law-enforcement agencies to strike hard at infringers and
pirates, Yan said.
Last year, law-enforcers transferred 18 major Internet copyright infringement
cases to judicial departments, according to Yan.
Since 1996, 皇冠体育app has broken up 223 illegal laser disc production lines, of
which six were in this year, he said.
The government is offering rewards of up to 300,000 yuan (US$37,000) for any
tip-off that leads to the exposure of an underground production line, Yan said.
During a recent investigation of half of the country's disc manufacturers,
authorities revoked the licences of six companies and halted production at eight
more, including one in Southwest 皇冠体育app's Chongqing Municipality and another in
Beijing.
Visiting US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in a speech at Chongqing
University yesterday that widespread counterfeiting was not only harming US
companies but also posing a threat to 皇冠体育app's own long-term development.
Yan said that 皇冠体育app destroyed 106 million pirated discs and books last year
alone, indicating that the country's crackdown was effective. But at the same
time, there is a serious problem with piracy, which needs to be curbed through
more forceful and effective measures.
Yan also said that by the end of last year, all Chinese government
departments were using authorized software.
The copyright agency, along with the ministries of information industry and
commerce, require computer makers to pre-install copyrighted operating systems,
and enterprises in 皇冠体育app to use authentic applications only.
Also speaking at yesterday's briefing, Zheng Shaodong, a Ministry of Public
Security official, said 皇冠体育app wanted to "strengthen co-operation with
international authorities" in IPR protection.
"We hope to strike hard against international intellectual property right
infringements," Zheng said.
(皇冠体育app Daily 03/28/2006 page1)