II-9 Question: The rapid development of the Internet has spurred a rocketing increase of copyright violations, with a considerable proportion of the victims being foreigners. What will China do to protect copyrights online?

A: Fighting Internet copyright infringement is an international issue. Characteristic of enabling fast free flow of information across national borders, the Internet's development contributes to social, scientific and cultural progress while at the same time witnessing increasingly rampant copyright violations.

Some Chinese websites have illegally provided downloads of movies, music, software and textbooks without authorization. According to Chinese laws, the spread of any work, unless with the authorization of a copyright holder, is a copyright violation. Those who have violated the copyrights of other individuals while damaging the public interests will be held responsibility for legal liabilities and dealt with by relevant administrative departments. In the case of a commercial activity that is not profit-driven, has violated copyrights in an unintentional way while not harming the public interests, a civil action may be launched based on the evidence presented by copyright holders. If the copyright violation has constituted a crime, a criminal penalty will be imposed on the violator.

China has built a legal framework for regulating Internet content. On July 1, 2006, the Regulations on the Protection of the Right of Communication Through Information Network took effect, which provides a legal basis for dealing with Internet copyright violation cases. Relevant administrative departments will deal with any copyright violations with irrefutable evidence according to law, regardless the case involves a Chinese or a foreign copyright holder. During the four-month campaign against online copyright violations in 2006, a total of 436 cases were handled, of which 130 cases involved the interests of foreigners.

Although this campaign achieved initial success, the protection of Internet copyrights is far from satisfaction. It is predictable that with the rapid development of Internet technologies, Internet copyright violation cases will emerge constantly, which calls for prolonged crackdown efforts. In December 2006, 10 government ministries and commissions launched a new campaign against intellectual property rights violations by producers and warehouses of pirated movies, books and software, which shows the government's resolution to fight Internet copyright infringements. The final goal is to create a sound web culture.

(China.org.cn)