Center

New way to fight piracy

By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-20 08:51

Wang Hu was one of the eight retailers, and this week he handed in more than 20,000 pirated discs.

"Piracy has cost me a lot. I have been fined more than a million yuan (US$125,000)," said Wang. "Feeling ashamed of my job, my daughter never talks with her friends about my profession."

Many pirated disc retailers in Nanjing approved of the project, saying it will help them gain a foothold in the industry.

"We used to earn lots before  2000 when legal products were sold at a very high price. But we can earn only one yuan (12 US cents) or less now on a pirated disc, while the profit margin for a legal one is three to four yuan (37-50 cents)," said Luo Linxu, a former pirated disc retailer.

"Du's effort brings us into the industry chain. The current deal actually gives us the first group of products to initiate our brand new career as a legal disc retailer," said Luo.

Authorities and members of the public were divided on the initiative.

"It is a good thing that sellers of pirated discs want to conduct legal business. But we will wait to see their long-term behaviour. And we will never stop our check-ups on disc retailers," said Shi Zhengdong, chief of the Piracy Control Bureau under Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture.

Shi said that Nanjing has been tougher than ever on piracy in recent years, an important factor in forcing illegal disc sellers to give up.

But Meng Qingfen, a local citizen, disagreed.

"Government bureaus should confiscate all pirated discs without exception, and fine or even put illegal disc sellers into prison," he said.