The Taiwan chapter of the US-based Business Software Alliance (BSA) — a non-profit organization that works to uphold intellectual property rights (IPR) — yesterday called on the government, enterprises and the public to team up against software piracy and create a safe and legal digital world.
At an event hosted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Intellectual Property Office to mark World Intellectual Property Day, which falls today, BSA Taiwan co-chair Sung Hong-ti (宋紅媞) said “public awareness of the need to protect IPR has been improving over the years, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.”
Established by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2001, World Intellectual Property Day seeks to instill an appreciation for the role of IPR in daily life, including the “contribution made by innovators and artists to the development of societies across the globe.”
Sung praised Taiwan’s efforts to combat commercial piracy and strengthen IPR.
The country’s IPR infringement rate fell from 43 percent in 2006 to 40 percent last year, Sung said, giving it the third-lowest rate of piracy in Asia after Japan’s 23 percent and Singapore’s 37 percent.
On Jan. 16 the US recognized Taiwan’s progress, Sung said, when the Office of the US Trade Representative removed the country from its Special 301 Watch list.
But IPR infringements remain serious at small and medium-sized enterprises where licensed software is not purchased for all computers, Sung said.
“The concept of users paying is important and we hope the government, enterprises and the public will work together to support licensed software,” Sung said.
Sung said BSA Taiwan had launched a “333 Campaign” to combine the efforts of the government, companies and the public to reduce the nation’s piracy rate by 3 percent within three years.
Many studies have linked economic growth to the reduction of software piracy, Sung said, adding that reducing the illegal copying of software to 31 percent by 2012 would add an estimated US$414 million to the nation’s GDP.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS