International Herald Tribune
05-30-2006
China said Monday that it would impose fines of as much as 100,000 yuan on distributors of illegally copied music, movies and other material over the Internet, a move likely to put pressure on search engines like Baidu.com.Internet service providers must give the authorities contact information for owners of sites that distribute pirated material, the State Council, China's cabinet, said in a statement dated May 18 and posted on its Web site Monday. The maximum fine is the equivalent of $12,500Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, EMI Group and Universal Music Group sued Baidu, the most-used search engine in China, last year for allowing free downloads of their music. The company, based in Beijing, offers a service allowing users to find MP3 files and may be forced to cooperate with the authorities in cracking down on illegal music sites.''Baidu will be under a lot of pressure to stop offering links to illegal MP3 files and may have to stop their MP3 search service,'' said Edward Yu, chief executive of the research company Analysys International, based in Beijing. The new rules could also cut the number of Baidu's users, he said.Calls to a Baidu spokeswoman, Cynthia He, were not returned.The government can fine individuals and companies selling equipment and technology designed to allow illegal copying, according to the rules. It can also confiscate equipment used for making and distributing pirated material.Yu said that China had repeatedly promised to crack down on illegal copying. ''China's piracy problem is an enforcement problem,'' he said. ''There have always been piracy laws.''
2006 Copyright International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com
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