China swoops on digital pirates

IN A BID to appease whiners in the West, the Chinese government seized more than 13 million pirated CD, DVDs and computer software in raids across the country.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the raids are part of a 100-day campaign against piracy. The pirated material was destroyed by the copyright cops.

Police and closed down 8,907 shops and street vendors, 481 publishing companies and 942 illegal Web sites, Xinhua said.

Most of the swag came from Guangdong province which is right next door to Hong Kong.

More on the People's Daily Online here. µ