Ministry of Justice suggests limits on IPR prosecution

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) yesterday voiced opposition to a suggestion that the violation of intellectual property rights be treated as a criminal act subject to public prosecution.

Chen's comments were welcomed in academic circles.

Speaking at the legislature, Chen said that he objected to expanding the scope of criminal acts to include copyright violations.

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 (蔡碧玉), director of the ministry's prosecutorial affairs department, told the Taipei Times that the reason the ministry disapproves of the change is because it does not consider criminal charges to be the most effective way to curb copyright violations.

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 (林志隆) said that Microsoft has taken advantage of the fact that it has dominated the market, a reason contributing to the over-pricing of their goods in Taiwan.

"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 (公平交易委員會) launch an investigation and release its report in three months.

Cheng Yu (鄭優), vice chairman of the commission, said that if Microsoft is found to have monopolized the market, the company can be fined up to NT$25 million.