China: We're Beating the Pirates

[The Wooster]

China: We're Beating the Pirates

Software piracy dropped to 38% in 2011, says China.

The Business Software Alliance recently declared China the world's worst offender when it comes to software piracy. Current numbers from the BSA say China has a piracy rate of 77%, a 2% drop from 2009's numbers, and that it's cost the software industry some £5.7 billion. China, however, says it's got its peg-legged, parrot-owner infestation under control. State-run newspaper, China Daily, reported that, according to consultancy, China Labs, the rate of software piracy in the nation dropped to 38% in 2011.

Given the Chinese government's tendency to be economical with the truth (though it's worth noting the BSA is hardly completely impartial) I'd advise you take its numbers with a large, health-threatening dose of salt. On the other hand, the nation has made remarkable progress when it comes to reducing piracy. Back in 2003, the BSA put the nation's piracy rate at a whopping 92 percent.

According to Zhai Lifeng, an official at the National Copyright Administration, during a 2011 crackdown, some 466 individuals and firms were given "administrative punishment," while 66 cases warranted criminal investigation.

On the bright side, should anyone claim the Chinese government's numbers are suspect, the nation can always crush them in its giant Not-A-Gundam. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107412-Chinas-Knockoff-Gundam-Gets-a-Hideous-Makeover]

Source: The Register [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/28/china_software_piracy_stats/ ]


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[Kargathia]

"We had a pirate problem. Then we executed pirates. No more pirate problem."

Am rather doubtful though how useful it is for software revenues. China might have a rapidly growing middle class, but that still doesn't mean that there isn't a sizeable portion of their populace for whom affording legal software is a joke.

 

[Paragon Fury]

As one US Senator rather bluntly put it - the world doesn't have a problem with piracy or copyright infringement:

The world has a problem with China and the people who live in China stealing everything that isn't nailed down and stealing/copying every idea that isn't locked in a bank vault under a Faraday cage.

If we dealt with China, the piracy and copyright program would practically disappear.

 

[-Ezio-]

i think they mean something different when they say "beating"

 

[mad825]

Just goes to show that the only real way to combat online piracy is to enforce fascism.

 

[Lunar Templar]

read the title and called bull shit

read more, and still calling bullshit


'freezing temperatures' catchpa is talking about the forecast in hell in regards to China 'beating pirates' i see

 

[hazabaza1]

So how's google dealing for you guys?
OH WAIT

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I actually thought they meant something completely different when I read the word "beating", funny how your mind automatically takes you places when you see "China" and "beating" in the headline.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, my basic attitude is that the only way to deal with the issue would be to effectively go to war with China, because short of that they have no real motive to stop what they are doing, which is why it continues. Their claims are more or less PR at the most, and really software piracy is a minor issue compared to their patent and copyright violations accross a wide spectrum of other products, and the huge knock off market it's at the center of. Whether we should or not, and how such a war could be won are things I am NOT going to post, but I've done so before. It would derail this beyond all belief.

If you do some searching when it comes to China, you'll find that it's goverment is involved in a lot of these electronic scams. If you do searches for things like "China, Prison, gold Farming" you'll find a ton of links like:


http://www.geek.com/articles/games/chinese-prison-hard-labor-includes-mmo-gold-farming-20110526/

Which is a SAMPLE link, not the sum total of an entire case, it's intended to just point in the direction, and show the issue exists if people care enough to do the research. This is also just one of many other issues.

The point is that despite comments about corrput guards, or whatever, The Chinese Goverment is basically behind a lot of the monetized gaming corruption, piracy, etc... that we see out there. When caught, they act all hurt and claim to take action, and produce statistics to try and say that they changed something, but really very little does change. The Chinese Goverment probably has it's fingers into the pirated video games, just as I don't doubt for a second it was hardly oblivious to inmates being made to farm gold in MMOs, I'm sure the prison guards did make some good money, but by it's nature this kind of operation (all those computers, software, etc... going into a controlled enviroment, not to mention the simple issue of an internet connection out of prison) is something the authorities doubtlessly had knowlege of, and were taking a big cut of, and probably still are.

That said while we're nerds and video games are a big deal to us, all the gold farming, video game piracy, etc.. together isn't a big deal in the absolute scheme of things. I wouldn't even hint at the possibility of a war as a solution over just that. China's related behaviors overall though, accross every kind of product you can think of, well that is a big deal internationally, and arguably their prosperity is based off of it and comes at everyone else's expense. A lot of people have talked about the next great war (which might destroy the world) being East Vs. West, and honestly, I think it's quite probably going to happen over economics and trade (them causing the war, rather than preventing it). We're not there yet, but all statistics aside, things are getting worse, not better, and really I don't see them changing.

 

[5-0]

China: We're Beating the Pirates. That should teach them not to do it again.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Correction should be-

China can DETECT 38% of the pirates.

 

[Freechoice]

China is beating the pirates. It only took 18,633 civilian casualties, 3 extinct river species, the increase of CO2 presence to 340 PPM in Beijing, a 30% upsurge of infant femicide and the torture of 8 foreign nationals, but they're beating the pirates.

 

[Dogstile]

Come on guys, lay off china, you're beating the joke to death *zing*

But in all seriousness, really? I somehow doubt they've done a thing.

 

[tehweave]

It sounds like China could beat the pirates by BEATING the pirates.

Eh? Ehhhhhh?

 

[TheMann]

i think they mean something different when they say "beating"

Well, they just had to take a very blunt approach to the issue.

 

[zidine100]

Oh look figures from a State run Chinese newspaper, must be legit...

 

[dyre]

Well, I can tell you that the number of pirated DVD stores seems to have dropped between when I went to Shanghai last summer and when I went three or four summers ago. Though, that could just me larger stores edging out the competition.

according to consultancy firm, China Labs

Aren't they called "consulting firms?" I've never heard the word consultancy used in that way.

 

[blackrave]

... with sticks

(at least that was my first thought when read this title)