Compliance and Enforcement

Software Theft on the Table at May 9–10 S&ED

Four out of five software programs installed on personal computers in China are stolen at a commercial value of nearly $8 billion dollars a year. That issue will be on the table this week when President Obama’s economic team sits down in Washington with its Chinese counterparts for their annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue. The … Read More >>

Compliance and Enforcement

Internet Piracy Portal Launch

Unauthorized copying of software used to require physically exchanging disks or other hard media through the mail or on the streets. This unauthorized copying was ultimately overshadowed by corporate end-user piracy, a pervasive form of copyright infringement that occurs when otherwise legitimate companies install software on more computers than the licenses they have purchased permit. … Read More >>

Compliance and Enforcement

China’s Software Audits: Green Eyeshades or Rose-Colored Glasses?

Now that the dust has settled from Chinese President Hu Jintao’s recent visit to Washington, it is worth pausing to take stock of the latest round of developments on the thorny issue of software legalization, long a source of frustration in US-China economic relations. Recall that the issue topped the agenda in December’s ministerial

Compliance and Enforcement

Software Issues Top the Agenda for US-China Trade

If there was any doubt about the relative importance of software issues in the economic relationship between the United States and China, it was dispelled in the ministerial sessions of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) that were held December 14–15 in Washington. The official statement and fact sheet that US negotiators issued … Read More >>

Compliance and Enforcement

US-China JCCT Talks Represent an Inflection Point

After years of frustration with persistently high rates of software piracy in China, could it be that we are about to see actual improvement in legal software sales there? Having met recently with top officials in the US and Chinese governments, I am guardedly optimistic. One thing is abundantly clear: Both governments, at the very … Read More >>