Government measures to clamp down on illegal movie downloads are having very little impact, and infringements of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) remain a thorny issue, People First Party Legislator George Hsieh (
Hsieh yesterday demonstrated how easy it is to download a copy of Ang Lee's (
"Although the film is still on the movie circuit, anyone can easily see it for free by downloading a link from a BitTorrent Web site," said Hsieh, who listed 10 sites hosting links to the movie.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"We haven't had much progress in combating copyright infringements of music, motion pictures and other works of art on the Internet," Chen Shu-mei (陳淑美), an official of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Intellectual Property Office, told the press conference yesterday.
Hsieh expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the government's strategy to combat Internet piracy, saying that the authorities should try to force file-sharing sites to close down, instead of punishing the sites' users.
"While we have trained police officers in the investigation and prosecution of Internet crimes, it is impossible to comprehensively guard against this kind of activity, as there are too many different BitTorrent servers on the Internet," Chen said.
Internet IPR infringement has been listed as one of the main problems hindering Taiwan's removal from the US' "Special 301 Priority Watch List" of copyright violators.
Government Information Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), when questioned on this issue during a separate event at legislature yesterday, said he would report the BitTorrent sites Hsieh had listed to relevant government agencies.
Cheng said the government was aware of the serious IPR problem posed by downloads of movies and music.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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