As we’ve discussed in class, the ACTA treaty is in hot debate across the pond in Europe. It seems, according to this article, “Copyright Group Claims Hong Kong Wants ‘3-Strikes’,” that China is beginning to open up to the idea of cracking down on copyright infringement. As we’ve also discussed in class, the violations of copyright laws in China are rampant, most people obtain their media entertainment via illegal file-sharing sites since the communist government so strictly regulates the content that is publically available. So how come the change of heart to suddenly crack down on the widespread use of infringed materials in China?
The International Federation Against Copyright Theft-Greater China (IFACT-GC) released a survey that gives the government and the federation incentive to enforce a copyright treaty quite similar to the ACTA. According to the survey, 81% of Chinese citizens would stop infringing or pirating if there was a 3-strike rule enforced on their illegal activities, approximately 53% said they would stop pirating even after one warning. This goes to show that if the Chinese government enforced any sort of legal punishment system to battle infringements that the Chinese people would be receptive to it and heed the law. This also goes to show that the public is more concerned with having Internet access than pirating from the Internet, the trade-off is not worth it to them.
The article suggests that this survey was rigged, or was not conducted in a setting that would produce the most accurate results to display how the Chinese citizens truly feel about their pirating activities. My question is, why would the Chinese government not seriously crack down on this issue earlier? And, will this survey sway the laws in China to be harsher on its citizens? I’m interested to follow this, as well as the ACTA to see how they will be enforced in the future, if they will be enforced…
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/89002/copyright-group-claims-hong-kong-wants-3-strikes/
Since my research for my final paper was on this topic, I have learned much about China’s attitude overall towards copyright infringement. It is not that they do not care, it is that their attempts to crackdown have not influenced everyone in China to change their habits. There are way too many people in China and the internet user population is constantly increasing. Many disregard the warnings because they feel the profit from pirating media is worth more than the low fines. I have not heard of the 3 strike rule but China is trying to figure out what is the best way to handle the situation since there are many hindrances to their methods such as the economic conditions in China as well as the lack of harmony between local and central authority.