p2pnet - rss feed: MPAA praises Schwab China move
p2pnet.net news:- “The Bush administration fired another salvo in its campaign against Chinese trade practices yesterday, announcing suits to force Beijing to crack down on rampant counterfeiting and drop restrictions on the distribution of American music, movies and books,” says the Washington Post.
And, “Ambassador Susan Schwab announced today that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will file a request for consultations with the Chinese government, the first formal step in the process for settling disputes between countries that are members of the World Trade Organization,” says Hollywood through its MPAA which, with the major record labels, is a prime instigator of the barrage.
Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, together with Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, say it’s time the Chinese are compelled to buy more corporate entertainment product, and the outgoing Bush administration is firmly behind them.
The US accuses China of setting “excessively high thresholds for launching criminal prosecutions” against the makers and distributors of pirated products, “such as DVDs of American movies and the humble Zippo lighter,” says the Post story. It goes on a second charge, “challenges China’s insistence that some of the counterfeiters’ chief targets - books, movies, music and computer software - be handled solely by state-owned importers, a policy that can delay distribution of legitimate material and create an opening for pirates,” according to Schwab.
But the WTO decision, “runs contrary to the consensus between the leaders of the two nations about strengthening bilateral economic and trade ties and properly solving trade disputes,” MarketWatch has Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, saying in a statement.
The release said China expressed “great regret and strong dissatisfaction” over the decision by the Bush administration to request that the Geneva-based WTO begin dispute-resolution consultations over complaints that China has failed to make adequate changes in its enforcement of anti-piracy laws.
Interestingly, Schwab started out as a USTO agricultural trade negotiator, and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) boss Dan Glickman is the ex-US secretary of agriculture. She took over from Rob Portman, a loyal Hollywood friend.
Glickman also appointed Greg Frazier as the MPAA’s svp for international trade policy. Frazier, Glickman’s special advisor since 2004, was also Glickman’s chief of staff at the agricultural department.
The clip, from Manuel Balce Ceneta’s Associated Press photograph, has Schwab holding a , “pirated DVD copy of Night at the Museum, which is to be released on April 24th, during a news conference,” says the caption, going on, “The pirated material, made in China, was brought into the country last week.” Does the pic epitomise her priorities?
Schwab, “on Monday said China had made progress on enforcing intellectual property rights, but insisted that piracy and counterfeiting levels in China remained ‘unacceptably high’,” says the story.
And the Bush administration will be pleased by Hollywood’s reaction.
“The motion picture industry applauds the commitment of Ambassador Schwab and her team, as well as the entire Administration, to ensuring fair trade practices for the U.S. copyright industries” says Glickman.
Meanwhile, China notwithstanding, the studios are still managing to report eye-popping revenues.
“In its annual theatrical market statistics report, global film audiences, ‘boosted the worldwide box office to an all-time high of $25.8 billion, compared to 23.3 billion in 2005,’ an 11% increase,” said the MPAA last month.
Also See:
Washington Post - Taking a Harder Line on Piracy, April 10, 2007
MPAA - MPAA applauds USTR WTI action tio spur China IP enforcement, market access, April 9, 2007
MarketWatch - China upset by U.S. piracy complaint, April 10, 2007
trade negotiator - MPAA, RIAA, US team up, June 15, 2006
eye-popping revenues - Hollywood reports record revenues, March 6, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
April 10th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Regardless on what side of the “piracy” fence we are on, one can surely bet that the WTO will go easy on China. The U.S., Canada, and other “free” countries have no business surrendering their sovereignty to unelected officials of the WTO. It would be in the best interest of Canadian, U.S., and Chinese citizens that this corrupt organization be disbanded.
April 11th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Didn’t the British try this over a hundred years ago? Back then it was opium they expected the Chinese to buy and they backed up their sales force with the British Navy. That turned out well.
Of course then they could afford dope. Exactly how many dvds the MPAA will sell in china when each costs a months’ wages is a big question.