The Executive Yuan yesterday reiterated its determination to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) and to continue its crackdown on IPR violations in the hope that the US will not include Taiwan on its "special 301 watch list" again this year.
The Office of United States Trade Representative is scheduled to release its annual "special 301 watch list" on April 30.
Addressing the media after the weekly closed-door Cabinet affairs meeting yesterday morning, Cabinet Spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢) quoted Premier Yu Shyi-kun as saying that the government's stance on cracking down on IPR infringements is clear.
"We will not stop until counterfeiting operations have been stamped out an a better environment exists for nurturing creative talent," Chuang said.
To make punishments more effective deterrents, Chuang said that the Cabinet is studying the possibility of increasing fines for piracy violations by amending the Copyright Law (
According to the law, those who illegally duplicate copyrighted products face a jail term of between six months and three years or a fine of up to NT$250,000. Those found making a living by counterfeiting copyrighted products face a jail sentence of up to seven years.
The Civil Code also allows copyright holders to file for compensation of up to NT$1 million if the holder cannot prove financial losses resulting from the copyright violation.
To better combat counterfeiting operations, the existing 100-strong special police unit that specializes in IPR crimes will be reinforced with an additional 120 trained law-enforcement officers.
The Cabinet may also increase monetary rewards issued to officers and private individuals who help in the crackdown effort.
To show his personal support for the anti-piracy campaign, Chuang said that the premier may attend an anti-piracy march scheduled to begin today at 2:30pm.
The event, organized by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Members Foundation in Taiwan, hopes to see a turnout of about 600 people, predominantly operators of local movie theaters, video stores and music stores, along with entertainers and musicians.
Music stores and video stores also plan to halt their business operations until 7pm in a bid to raise public and government awareness of the rampant piracy.
Although the government has made much progress over the past two months since the intensive crackdown began on Jan. 31, Chuang said that there is still much room for improvement.
"There's a very important concept the public has to understand," Chuang said. "That is, the core of global competition is about quality, creativity and wisdom and not about labor, price, and quantity. That's why we're determined to protect intellectual property rights."
Statistics show that the government has seized counterfeit products worth NT$2.2 billion over the past two months.
In addition to continuing the crackdown on counterfeiting and breaches of intellectual property rights, Chuang said that the Cabinet will bolster the project with assistance from other Cabinet ministries.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will offer professional training programs to law-enforcement officers, prosecutors, and investigators so they will have a better understanding of the problem.
The Ministry of Justice will work with the Judicial Yuan to strengthen alternative action to be taken against minor violators.
The Ministry of Education plans to include IPR education in the syllabus to better educate students about the importance of the issue.
The Government Information Office also plans to make public the government's successes in its war against piracy.
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