More than 1,500 large Chinese enterprises have installed
copyrighted software since April 2006, said Liu Binjie, director of
the General Administration of Press,?on Monday.
In April 2006, the National Copyright Administration and seven
other ministries issued a joint notice urging Chinese companies to
use copyrighted software.
Central and provincial governments have investigated 3,600
enterprises. More than 1,100 companies have faced penalties for
using pirated software, Liu told a conference on software copyright
issues.
Vice Premier Wu Yi, also leader of a national working group
for intellectual property protection, said in a congratulatory
letter to the conference that software industry was a "basic and
strategic sector" of the national economic development.
Wu said the use of copyrighted software to create a healthy and
standard market environment is very important to develop the
software industry.
She reiterated that departments concerned should to take
"forceful" measures to promote the use of copyrighted software.
The meeting, attended by 300 delegates from various software
companies, also heard that China was working to promote the use of
legitimate software by official organizations. Government entities
and institutions above the city level have installed copyrighted
software since a State Council order to that effect was issued in
2004.
China also adopted regulations in 2006 requiring computers made
in China, or imported for sale here, to be pre-loaded with
legitimate operating systems.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2007)