According to a Xinhua News Agency report on August 8, the 2005
summer campaign on intellectual property rights (IPR) that began on
June 19 has been a success, with a large quantity of pirated goods
seized, markets restricted and illicit trafficking channels
blocked.
The campaign was jointly initiated by eight central government
departments including the Office of the National Anti-pornography
Working Group, the Ministry of Culture, the General Administration
of Press and Publication and the General Administration of
Customs.
The report stressed that joint endeavors across the country
involving local police, businesses and government departments have
resulted in better implementation of IPR laws. They have uncovered
many cases involving the production and sale of pirated products
and regulation of the market has been markedly improved.
The aim of the campaign has been to primarily target pirated
DVDs of domestic and foreign films, as well as to increase
awareness amongst the general public of the importance of IPR
issues.
There have been comprehensive inspections of audio and video
products in the provinces of Hebei, Hubei, Qinghai, Gansu and
Fujian.
In Shanghai, over 600 inspectors were mobilized to check 390
sites, and within one and a half months 9 sites were closed down
that each traded over 10,000 illegal discs, and 190,000 illegal
products seized. More than 40 unlicensed sites were also
closed.
In Xuzhou of Jiangsu
Province, 106 officers closed down 4 underground wholesalers in
one go, confiscating 300,000 pirated discs.
Places selling pirated products near schools were targeted in
Beijing and in the provinces of Anhui and Guizhou. More than 270
full-time inspectors were organized in Anhui to talk to teachers
and students about IPR awareness and to help them identify pirated
products. Over 4,500 people were involved in checking 2,260 shops,
and 3 wholesalers were shut down and 30,000 pirated discs seized.
Sixty-seven unlicensed shops were also closed, and 12 were
penalized.
Undercover investigation teams were sent out in the provinces of
Shanxi, Shandong and Hainan. In Henan Province, officials relied on
information from concerned citizens as well as from inspections,
leading them to confiscate 560,000 illegal discs from 4 sites.
Between June 28 and July 13, 7 wholesalers were uncovered in
Guangdong Province and 4 million pirated products seized. On July
13, 397,000 pirated discs were found at just one site.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2005)