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Essay Piracy in China

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Piracy in China

The American Heritage Dictionary defines piracy as “the unauthorized duplication of copyrighted or patented material.” It is a problem that affects companies all over the world. Piracy of software, movies, and music is commonplace in China. China has the second worst piracy rate in the world; about 92 percent of the software in China is pirated (Williams 2004). Various companies and governments have attempted to combat piracy, but they had not seen much success until recent years. Combating piracy is a difficult task, especially in a country that has a history of not enforcing intellectual property laws.

Piracy costs companies and artists money. Companies spend millions of dollars on research and development to …show more content…

Why would it produce the software in the first place?

The evolution of technology has made it even easier to pirate media. Anyone with a personal computer can easily duplicate CDs and DVDs at home. People commonly pirate DVDs, video and audio cassettes, and video and audio CDs. The price of the hardware, software, and blank media that is used to pirate is constantly dropping and is readily available to consumers.

Cultural practices in general in China support piracy. China has a reputation for having a tolerance for some of the highest piracy rates in the world. “Despite laws and international agreements protecting intellectual property rights, an overwhelming lack of political rules within China allows piracy to rapidly expand” (Rohde 2004). However, it’s not just the government that is causing the problem. People seem to believe that piracy is a way of life in China. For instance, an American expatriate that’s living in China was quoted in City Weekend Magazine as saying, “I buy rip-off t-shirts, I didn’t register with the police to live in my building, and I try to avoid paying tax – but I don’t think any of it constitutes fraud. It’s just part of life here” (Lusby 2004).

People with certain religious beliefs are affected by piracy. For example, one of the Ten Commandments is, “Thou shalt not steal.” Most people, however, do not associate piracy with stealing. People believe that buying a pirated DVD or

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