Bush Cracks Down On Copyright Pirates

President Threatens Sanctions Against Countries That Allow Piracy

(AP)  The Bush administration is accusing China, Russia and seven other nations of failing to protect American producers of movies, computer software and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy.

The administration on Friday placed the nine countries on a "priority watch list" that will subject them to extra scrutiny and could eventually lead to economic sanctions - if the administration decides to pursue complaints before the World Trade Organization.

In addition to China and Russia, the other seven countries targeted were Argentina, Chile, India, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela.

The administration named another 31 countries to a lower-level watch list, indicating it has concerns about copyright violations in those nations but they don't warrant the highest level of scrutiny.

Because of improvements in their efforts to protect U.S. intellectual property rights, four countries - Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Ukraine - were taken off the "priority" list where they were last year and placed on the lower-level watch list.

In releasing the annual report, which is required by Congress, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that copyright piracy is "one of the central challenges facing the global economy."

"Pirates and counterfeiters don't just steal ideas, they steal jobs and too often they threaten our health and safety," she said in a statement.

This year's report devoted attention to what it described as the growing problem of counterfeited pharmaceuticals and other products that threaten the health and safety of consumers around the world.

Stan McCoy, assistant U.S. trade representative for intellectual property, told reporters in a briefing that both China and Russia had made improvements in protecting intellectual property over the past year but that a number of issues remain.

The United States has a WTO case pending against China in which it has accused the country of doing too little to crack down on rampant piracy of American music, movies, computer programs and other products.

Discussions between the United States and Russia over improving copyright protections have been a key sticking point in negotiations over that country's bid to become a member of the WTO, the Geneva-based organization that regulates world trade.

[rf35]

They might want to look at Korea for this list. Last time I was over there, you could buy a DVD of any recent movie you could think of for about $5.00 US. They even had movies that were still in theaters. There were booths and even small stores selling the movies all over the place.

[rushlimpdrug]

"President Threatens Sanctions Against Countries That Allow Piracy"

Ah, did he just wake up?

[michellem99-2009]

Who out shore the american jobs to save a buuk..well..When I was young we made all or needly all we used..Well..Ye look at yer mouse where is it made..Mine Made in China..Computer,toys,etc out of nation..who is the blame..well,,

[nothappyatall]

Lets see, THIS is a real high priority item eh?

Copyright violations are a *CIVIL MATTER* it is up to the copyright owner to file a CIVIL LAWSUIT aganist the violator for damages, this is not a criminal matter nor one the US govt should be involved with unless the govt is willing to stand up for EVERYONE''S copyrights not just a select few like the music industry!

[christiansin]

Copyright violations under U.S. law has civil and criminal consequences.

[fstop100]

What about the real problems....you let China make everything else.while our country is falling apart.
It was said weeks ago, the best part og
G.W. ran down his mammas leg...............how true.

[jerr11]

The greatest modern pirates are the war profiteers at Halliburton.

Impeach Bush and Cheney for treason:

935 Lies that led us to a war.

A war that directly benefited Cheney and his cronies.

$12 billion a month squandered in Iraq.

The country in hock to the Chinese.

The dollar worth 60 cents what it used to be before Bush.

Meanwhile ******** Cheney and his buddy George Bush are laughing all the way to the bank.

Impeach the two traitors!

[stn_sage]

This has been going on throughout Bush''s administration as demonstrated by existing watch lists and failure of certain countries to gain entrance into certain organizations due to their copyright piracy activities.

The Bush administration doesn''t appear to have made any real progress toward solving this problem. Whether this is intentional or not, is anyone''s guess! But here''s one more issue the next administration will have to deal with.

[incog-nito]

Let''s see. It''s well known that countries like China have been openly pirating U.S. intellectual properties for decades now, sometimes by state-run companies. And we are just now putting them on a "watch list", so that maybe one day we''ll slap them with economic sanctions? Yeah, sounds real tough. The Chinese must be really scared.

[nocatnowaco]

You can blame on the Bush''s because you are afraid to blame on the Clinton''s and want to keep your pockets full !!! Let me tell you somethings that are really harder to reproduce than just dvd, cd, or tapes. During Vietnam War, there were plenty of counterfeit money used. And right now you can buy a fake Swiss watch like Rolex for just a few hundred dollars. And who are you going to blame ???

[nocatnowaco]

Does anybody know about REVERSE ENGINEERING ???

[gce65]

What''s that? Bush is going down on crack pirates? Probably trying to muscle in on their territory so he''ll have reliable income after he leaves office.

[brianbwb-2009]

This from the one who quoted a pirated 10 year old essay from a Berkley student as proof of Saddam''s WMDs, right.

"Pirates and counterfeiters don''t just steal ideas, they steal jobs and too often they threaten our health and safety," she said in a statement."

Total steaming Bullturds. Not one job is lost to file sharers, because the vast majority of people who pirate do so because they cannot afford the original, they never would have bought it anyway.

Also, who changed the definition of the word "buy"?

If you buy something, that means you own it, and can do what you wish with it, even give it away. If we are only leasing, then the transaction should be called "leasing".

And since when have we been legally bound to contracts we haven''t signed? Since there is no way to tell who clicks F8, or "yes" buttons, or even who opened the box, these cannot become replacements for a signature.

The line about creators not being paid is also a lie, as proven by the RIAA suing to collect royalties, then not paying the artists.

Take to its'' logical counterpart, every time Windows, or whatever software displays their logo on my screen, they ought to pay my for using my display as an ad for their product, as others do see it.

If Bush had a rudder he might stay on course. His weapons of mass destruction hunt in Iraq went so well. Why does anyone listen to this guy?

[bgwinnett]

Chinese theft --patent violations-- of our intellectual property, needs to stop too.

[tbweb]

This issue needs to be cleared up once and for all! Where did Pirates and counterfeiters come from? They came from companies selling music and software!! When consumers purchased music and software and discovered its not what they wanted or that they purchased the wrong thing for various reasons; misleading advertising, incompatible software or hardware, poorly written software or any number of legitimate issues, guess what? Once you open a software or music package it can not be returned! This is a big deal when software cost several hundred dollars and you can''t get your money back because you opened or broke the packaging!! Thus software and music piracy was born! Most people obtain illegal software to try it out and if they like it they buy it, most don''t obtain pirated software to steal it but to avoid wasting money by not being able to return it! Open source software like Shareware, Linux and free software that accept payments or donations after you obtain it, use it and try it first have taken off! There will always be pirates who copy and steal but the majority of consumers reward software and music artist for their hard work. Another problem iTunes and other single song sources fixed was being forced to buy an entire music album when you only liked 1 or 2 songs from the artist, another issue that led to piracy now fixed, not to mention over pricing! It always good to buy software if you use it because you get support and upgrades and support the author.

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD,FORCLOURSERS just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD,FORCLOURSERS just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[rick40391]

You know if this full of *** pres.of ours was so concerned about losing jobs in the states why has he not done something about the business going to the very countries he has put on his so called watch list. It seems to me he has bigger problems here, with GAS PRICES,RISING PRICES ON FOOD, FORECLOSURES just to name a few of which there are many more..
Guess just not the people with the money....I guess...You know when I do get this to go thru which I have tried about a dozen times they keep disabling the publish button...IS BUSH CLEARING THIS TOOOO??

[dat1guysd]

You''d think that the prez would be focusing on real issues besides the entertainment industry, what a waste of time. the whole planet will be on santions because of this idiot.
I want too apologize to the nation for voting for Bush, what a big mistake that was.

[marrofkane]

WHAT?? We owe China Billions of dollars?? Bush cannot sanction China!! I''d like to see him try. We also are so dependent on China for all our cheap junk at Wal-Mart, it won''t happen!!

[marrofkane]

Let''s see: We want the end of the Iraq war, stop illegal immigration, and lower gas prices. Well, I guess the squeaky palm gets greased, and Bush is the one getting the grease. Politicians are puppets of the corporations, they don''t really work for John Q. Public. Yeah, go ahead ans police the world, Bush. But you cannot tell other countries what to do. You are a lame duck.

[cyberus-2009]

Cracks down?

With what a vicious tongue lashing?

oooooo I bet that scared them ROFL!

[dronemonk]

Whenever the Bush League says they''re going to do something (like bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East, or fix our floundering Social Security system), you can pretty much bank on them not succeeding. Such an inept administration...

[nonayabiness]

dat1guysd

Thanks for apologizing for voting for Bush. I didn''t either time, but the fact that we bother to vote at all gives us much more right to complain than those that don''t bother.

Actually, didn''t Kerry actually win the last election by popular vote and the delegates overturned it??? I believe this is why most of the state representatives were replaced the last go-around.

[nonayabiness]

Gee, China might not be able to sabotage our patents if it wasn''t making all our products. Its time for America to stand up together and decide that as a country, we can take care of ourselves without any assistance in the form of job or resource farming to other countries. It needs to stop NOW!

[bookout2]

George don''t you know nobody listens to you anymore?

[ubrew12]

Article: "Bush Cracks Down On Copyright Pirates [from China/Russia/Pakistan/etc]."

He''ll be invading Indonesia because they have lots of oil, I mean, piracy.

[quetzal0666]

Carter Stole his mojo, now hes cracking down on everything to show hes the decider....

[talkingham]

Bush cracks wimp, oh I mean whip on piracy. What a laugh. Maybe he should invade the moon or Mars, wasn''t he all big about that a fews years ago when the the docs changed his anti-acholhic meds or something?
Worst President ever.

[bobbyduck1]

Sure - protect copyrights because they affect ultra-big business the most! How about protecting American jobs, Bushit? Let''s take care of Average Joe for a change. Oh wait, that wouldn''t be Republican, now would it? Just American......

Sheesh!

[dredre2k]

Wow... bush is truly the Manchurian Candidate. He does whatever companies and corporate america want him to do... screw the world, and the US population.
Thankfully, the 8 year BUSH reign of terror will be coming to an end on Jan. 20, 2009!!!