IPR criticism ignorant
The recent visit by US Assistant Secretary of Commerce William Lash was a ridiculous show of ignorance in his quest to "stamp out piracy," (Taiwan gets a lashing over IPR, Jan. 25, page 1).
The outmoded laws protecting intellectual property rights are based on 16th-century thought when Gutenberg first published the Bible and only the senior clergy were literate.
This issue should have been dealt with when Philips first exported the recordable cassette to the US over 30 years ago. It was legal to import it but became illegal to use it.
Europe has taken the lead in understanding electronic media issues. I first suggested the idea back in the late 1970s and published my thoughts in Nibble magazine which catered to Apple computer users. My thoughts were based upon existing practice in the music industry that distributed royalties to authors via a system that looked at the demand for those products.
A revamp of the law is desperately needed. Taiwan can take the lead by calling a forum of all manufacturers of blank media and drawing up a plan that includes royalty payment in the cost of blank media. Common sense must prevail.
As an American I am ashamed of this finger pointing by Lash on behalf of my country. Lash has simply shown his ignorance.
Bill Parkhurst
Tan Tzu
Loving Taiwan?
I was intrigued by Nick Carvel's letter concerning the "permanency" of the permanent residency status of those foreigners who apparently "love Taiwan" but not enough to renounce their citizenship in favor of ROC citizenship (Letters, Jan. 29, page 8).
Those of us who have truly proven our love of Taiwan and gained ROC citizenship must warn the permanent residents that permanent residence will most likely not be of benefit to them unless they learn to love Taiwan more.
Tavio Cheslav
Taipei
China no better than a thief
Beijing's desire for one-sided negotiations on the future of Taiwan is reminiscent of catching a thief in your kitchen at 3am. He takes a seat at the dining room table and insists that you hand over the lease to your house and all its contents. You refuse. He then states that the negotiations cannot continue until you accept the non-negotiable principle that your house, in fact, belongs to him. So much for China's logic.
The only thing more surprising and absurd than Bei-jing's demands is Taipei's seeming agreement that such "negotiations" are desirable.
One doesn't negotiate with thieves in the night over title to property they have no right to make claims to.
Stephen Carter
Bangkok
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