A record 42 million smuggled and pirated discs were destroyed
across the country Monday in the largest ever crackdown on illegal
audio and video CDs and DVDs in China, according to sources with
the General Administration of Customs.
The city of Shanwei, the main site, Monday crushed 26 million
illegal discs.
Shanwei and its neighbouring city of Shantou -- both in the
southeast of South China's Guangdong Province and under the charge
of the Shantou Customs -- have long been used by smugglers due to
the long coastline of 298 metres.
The huge crackdown on illegal audiovisual products was jointly
organized by the General Administration of Customs, the General
Administration of Press and Publication and the National Office for
Cracking Down on Pornography and Piracy.
Gui Xiaofeng, deputy director of the General Administration of
Press and Publication, said: "It is the biggest of its kind in
terms of the quantity destroyed in one place and the overall
quantity destroyed across China."
All 42 million discs destroyed Monday had been confiscated
during crackdowns on smuggling cases, starting in 2001.
Wang Xikai, of the National Office for Cracking Down on
Pornography and Piracy, said: "The total number of the illegal
discs confiscated since 2001 is greater (than 42 million) but the
haul in some minor cases was destroyed immediately on the
spot.''
Smugglers are now able to conceal more than 4 million discs on
one ship, compared to no more than 1 million on one ship a decade
ago.
In the latest major case, Guangdong police confiscated 4.77
million smuggled discs on March 2 this year, which was a
record-breaking haul.
Pirated products have become a big problem for China, said
Gui.
He said the smugglers not only breach China's copyright laws but
also evade tax.
Severe punishment of lawbreakers should be combined with a
policy of rewarding those who give useful information to the
authorities with up to 300,000 yuan (US$36,200), Gui added.
Shen Rengan, deputy director of the National Copyright
Administration, said piracy is an international issue.
Taking software piracy as an example, pirated software accounts
for 24 per cent of all software in North America, 35 per cent in
the western Europe, and 55 per cent in the Asia-Pacific area, he
said.
David A. Reynolds, consul at the United States Consulate-General
in Guangzhou, told China Daily that he is committed to co-operating
with the Chinese Government on the piracy issue.
In the first seven months of this year, some 46.02 million
illegal discs were confiscated nationwide in 76 major smuggling
cases.
(China Daily Aug 13, 2003)