Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Chen's comments were welcomed in academic circles.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Speaking at the legislature, Chen said that he objected to expanding the scope of criminal acts to include copyright violations.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The minister made the comments in response to PFP Legislator Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國), who said he had learned that the Executive Yuan had considered making the change.
Chen told lawmakers that while other departments in the Cabinet might hold different views on the matter, the ministry's stance would not change.
Under the copyright law, except for professional traders of pirated goods, those who break copyright laws are not subject to public prosecution.
Tsai Pi-yu (
The director said that there are many reasons for piracy, such as a lack of education or the over-pricing of products.
To prevent these acts, authorities should first examine the problem's root causes and seek to solve the problem from the bottom, she noted.
Vice minister of education Wu Tieh-hsiung (吳鐵雄) said that his ministry would welcome the decriminalization of the breaking of copyright laws on campus.
Pirated products are frequently used on campus because students cannot afford to buy expensive software, much of which is made by Microsoft Corp.
Students have recently launched protests against the US company, saying that Microsoft has monopolized the local market and that their products' prices are much higher in Taiwan than overseas.
Addressing the issue, lawmakers of the Judicial Committee yesterday passed a resolution to order the government to investigate whether Microsoft has violated anti-trust laws to monopolize the local software market.
They said that authorities in the US and in the EU have taken similar action against the company.
TSU lawmaker Lin Chih-lung (
"The consumer doesn't have the option to choose if they want to buy a single kind of software or in bundles. This kind of sales tactic is different from [Microsoft's] tactics overseas," he said.
Lawmakers demanded that the Fair Trade Commission (
Cheng Yu (
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