Naughty, Naughty: Annual Section 301 Report From US Trade Representative

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Kraig Baker

The US on Friday placed nine countries on a "priority watch list" for allegedly failing to protect American producers of movies, computer software and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy.  This will subject them to extra scrutiny and could eventually lead to economic sanctions - if the administration decides to pursue complaints before the World Trade Organization.  The countries were China, Russia, Argentina, Chile, India, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela.  Four countries were removed from the list:  Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Ukraine.  Not surprisingly, a large part of the report focuses on China.   Ultimately, the report is a fascinating read on what the priorities are for the US in terms of intellectual protection (mainly pharmaceuticals and entertainment).  It's also an interesting treasure trove of where to get pirated materials when wandering the markets of the Czech Republic or Buenos Aires.  http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/April/USTR_Issues_2008_Special_301_Report.html

 

Tags: , , ,

Mice Love Rice

Posted on February 7, 2008 by Brian Kennan

This week's issue of The Economist has some interesting numbers on Internet usage in China. The most intriguing statistic, at least to me, is that the ringtone of the song "Mice Love Rice" brought in $10 million in 2005. Who knew?

Anyway, here are the other staggering stats:

  • The number of internet users in China is currently 210 million. (That's more than three times as many users as in India.)
  • Internet penetration is only about 16%. (Read: lots of room for growth.)
  • "Leading" Chinese Internet firms have operating margins of 28%. (Compare that with the 15% that comparable American companies earn.)
  • China has 500 million mobile phones.

Much more here.

Tags: , ,