U.S. to step up piracy battle

US TO STEP UP PIRACY BATTLE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera and Evelyn Iritani]
In the battle against pirated American movies, music and other intellectual property in China, the Bush administration has tried the carrot. Now it's turning to the stick. That was the sign the U.S. sent Monday as it decided to launch formal complaints against Beijing with the World Trade Organization. Although the move risks escalating already tense trade relations, U.S. officials and Hollywood executives have become increasingly frustrated with the continued flood of bootleg DVDs and other products from China. The Motion Picture Assn. of America estimates that in 2005, more than nine of every 10 DVDs sold there were illegal copies. In recent years, Chinese and U.S. officials have been working together to solve the problem, but U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Monday that 80% of all counterfeit products seized at U.S. borders still come from China.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-wto10apr10,1,4895958.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
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CHINA CONVEYS 'REGRET' OVER TRADE COMPLAINTS
[SOURCE: New York Times 4/11, AUTHOR: Keith Bradsher]
The Chinese government expressed “deep regret and strong dissatisfaction” on Tuesday with the Bush administration’s decision to file two complaints against China with the World Trade Organization. Facing criticism from Congress that more should be done to address the widening United States trade deficit with China, the Bush administration announced Monday that it would file complaints with the W.T.O. The complaints, which were lodged at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday, accuse China of tolerating widespread violations of trademarks and copyrights and of unfairly limiting the importation of books, journals, movies, videos and music to state-owned companies. Wang Xinpei, a Commerce Ministry spokesman, denied the American allegations, saying that “the Chinese government has always been firm in protecting intellectual property.” He added that until now, China and the United States had been “in good communication and consultation with each other over access to the Chinese publication market.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/business/worldbusiness/11yuan.html
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