US moans to WTO over Chinese "piracy"

THE UNITED STATES is planning to let loose two new World Trade Organisation cases against China with the aim of clamping down on piracy of American media, such as music, software and movies.

Although the U.S. government acknowleges that China's government has taken steps to protect intellectual property rights, Stateside trade representative Susan C. Schwab claims that it's not quite enough.

"We have not been able to agree on several important changes to China's legal regime that we believe are required by China's WTO commitments," said Schwab. "Inadequate protection of intellectual property rights in China costs U.S. firms and workers billions of dollars each year, and in the case of many products, it also poses a serious risk of harm to consumers in China, the United States and around the world," she said in a statement.

The two cases will be focusing on China's apparent inability to crack down on widespread piracy and on market access barriers which get in the way of Chinese consumers to buy legit versions of products.

The WTO filings seem generally encouraged by bigwigs in the states, Senate Bloke Max Baucus saying that it's "high time" for Bush's people to get tough on China for piracy violations, according to Reuters.

Surprise, surprise, the RIAA's happy too: Chairman Mitch said in a statement that so far "the theft of music is pervasive in China and takes place virtually without meaningful consequence," and that China has "to date, failed to institute" the kind of reforms that the RIAA is after. µ

L'INQ
Xinhua

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