Will New Chinese Laws Effectively Combat the Piracy Problem?

Walking down the streets of Shanghai, it is easy to see why the film industry of the U.S, among other places, feels threatened. Buying a movie like Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End would be as easy as buying a bottle of water. Pirated DVDs can be found just about anywhere, walking down the street DVD vendors line the streets. Some legitimate shops have DVD designated backrooms where pirated DVDs line the shelves and are sold for as little as five reminbi (Chinese currency), that isn't even one U.S dollar. But that isn't all. Not only are pirated DVDs a widespread phenomena, but pirated Xbox, PS2, and other game console games are also sold in vast quantities for ten reminbi a pop. That is just a little over one U.S dollar. This widespread and easy availability makes a huge market for Chinese tourists and residents alike. And Shanghai isn't the only Chinese city like this either. But under pressure from the U.S and various film industries China is trying to shut its doors to piracy and open them toward legitimate sales. On Friday April 6^th Beijing reported that it had "tightened its rules on intellectual property theft, lowering the threshold for 'serious offenders' who will face up to seven years in jail." (AFP, 2007)

However, there is skepticism surrounding the move. In 2004 the government tightened restrictions on piracy and although stricter fines and jail time threatened retailers and producers of pirated DVDs, the DVDs are still available in mass quantity on the streets through both legitimate and non-legitimate vendors. Not to mention the amount of pirated DVDs sold on auction sites like Ebay and its Chinese equivalent.

Still, Chinese officials expect this seven year jail time threat will assist in cutting piracy on the streets. The "serious offender" level was lowered from the manufacturing of 5,000 DVDs to 2,500 DVDs. Additionally, anyone manufacturing 500 discs will be given three years in prison; this is half the number of DVDs allowed to be manufactured before. (AFP, 2007).

During previous crackdowns DVD sellers merely went into hiding or sold only legitimate DVDs during the day or in the window, while illegally manufactured DVDs were sold behind the curtains or a night when police checks were less likely to be in place. On has to wonder if this new crackdown will actually create a difference in the piracy of DVDs, music, and computer programs, or if it will merely drive piracy underground as it is in the U.S. Or will it even have that effect? How are law enforcement officials planning to combat piracy? A jump in copyright infringement law suits is expected, but one has to wonder what other sort of results the Chinese government is expecting from this move. Will there be more checks in place? Something to keep vendors off of street corners? Even after the 2004 move to curb DVD piracy, the industry continued to boom. It seems that Chinese officials and Western government officials (who are fighting piracy at home) alike will need to find news ways of combating this growing business.

References:

AFP. (2007). China Tightens Rules on Piracy. Retrieved April 6, 2007, from Yahoo7 News Website: http://au.news.yahoo.com/070406/19/130mr.html