Ministry defends record on IPR

Officials at the Ministry of Finance's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) said yesterday that Taiwan had complied with WTO regulations on protecting copyrights but that tougher penalties for pirates were needed.

"I can assure you that we have all the necessary laws and regulations in place to protect intellectual property," said Chang Chung-hsin (張忠信), an inspector in the IPO's copyright department.

"In addition, ever since we joined the WTO last year, our efforts in cracking down on piracy have been obvious and remarkable," he said. "But I would strongly urge lawmakers to amend the Criminal Code to increase fines and sentences for pirates."

Chang made his remarks at a public hearing organized by DPP Lawmaker Lawrence Gao (高志鵬) at the Legislative Yuan yesterday afternoon.

Gao billed the hearing as the first in what he plans as occasional hearings in which Taiwanese officials will discuss intellectual property protection with their counterparts from other countries.

One Japanese official and one Japanese businessman attended yesterday's session. Gao said that Japan had been chosen as the foreign country for yesterday's session because a Japanese IPR official happened to be visiting Taiwan on business.

"We would like to let our Japanese friends know that we are no longer sitting idly by while pirates violate intellectual property rights, but are actively cracking down on them," Gao said after reminding the audience that a little over a decade ago, Japan -- since displaced by the US -- was the principal victim of Taiwanese IPR violations.

"We have been working hard on stamping out piracy. But I think it is necessary to let our friends know more about it. Through this kind of communication, we can also share experiences of cracking down on piracy," he said.

At yesterday's hearing, Yutaka Kubota, chief secretary of Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software, said that the association is willing to share with Taiwan its experiences of working with the Japanese police.

Chang Yu-ying (張玉英), deputy director of the IPO's General Planning Department, said that last year, law enforcement officers closed 297 factories producing pirated CDs, VCDs and publications.

In addition, on Jan. 1, the National Police Administration established a new police force dedicated to piracy.

"Cracking down on piracy is our only mission," said Liao Gao-jiang (廖高江), chief of the newly-established Intellectual Property Protection Police Corps.

The new police force has 220 officers trained to deal with piracy 24 hours a day in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Hualien.

Also See Story

Lu wants Taiwan off US' 301 list