China clamps down on online piracy

Downloading movies and music from the Internet is a popular past time in China. Public file sharing protocols such as Bit Torrent, or BT, provide the service for free. But BTs are now being targeted in a nationwide crackdown to protect copyrights on-line.

BTs have meant watching the latest box-office movie is only a mouse click away. Internet users wait until the download is complete and then watch their favorite movies. Despite the poor quality pictures, users like Xiao Xu enjoy the service because it is free.

College student Xiao Xu said, "I can get everything I need here, like the latest movies including "2012" and "Twilight". The movies can be watched on the Internet the day after their box office debut."

But the luxury of free downloads has come at a hefty cost for filmmakers and music artists. Most of the BT platforms have not paid for the copyrights of the movies or music they transfer on their website. That means they are providing piracy products.

Qiao Xinsheng, professor of Zhongshan Univ. of Economics & Law,said, "If one provides links to download video or audio files that have been copyrighted, it is an infringement of copyright law. But this excludes those not for commercial purposes. But we have to make clear that all the BT websites are totally commercial, no matter how they make money."