Washington brought out its top guns Tuesday to persuade Taiwan to crack down on rampant piracy of entertainment media and computer software as a delegation of "pan-green" legislators began the first full day of a goodwill visit to the nation's capital.
More than a dozen legislators spent nearly an hour listening to Jack Valenti, the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, complaining about piracy in Taiwan and its impact on the US entertainment industry.
Also at the meeting was Representative Robert Wexler, the founder and chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, a group formed in the spring to act as Taiwan's voice in the US Congress.
The presence of Valenti, a Democratic party powerhouse and member of the Kennedy clan, was significant in that it underscored the importance with which Washington views the piracy issue, which has become one of the sorest points in Taiwan's relations with the US.
"When you have one of America's greatest exports being stolen wantonly in Taiwan and without any really effective means to stop it, it does cause you some anxiety," Valenti told the Taipei Times after the Capitol Hill meeting.
"Taiwan is the largest exporter in the world of illegal material. It is the distribution point for the export of these pirated optical discs and music all over the world," he said.
Music and movie piracy is costing the US entertainment industry US$350 million a year, Valenti said. He criticized Taiwan's government for not taking the steps needed to combat piracy and said that Wexler, a leading Taiwan supporter in Congress, "is worried about this problem and thinks that Taiwan must address it, and soon."
He noted, for example, that piracy is not a major crime.
"The police have no authority on their own to stop a pirate. They have to wait until somebody complains. No other police force in the world is under such restrictions," he said. "They need to correct that."
Taiwan must also close illegal pirate factories "that are in operation in all major cities in Taiwan," he said.
Legislator Mark Chen (
"We are already in the process of trying to make a law regulating the situation," he told the Taipei Times. "If we have the law, then, of course we can prosecute," he said.
He said that the legislature was "well aware" of the problems Valenti cited, but that while the legislature was trying to fix the problem, "it would take some time."
Chen said that he and others did not realize the seriousness of the situation before the meeting, nor how much the US movie industry is losing.
"We are aware that as a civilized nation, as a democracy, it is important for us to pursue this. Otherwise, in the international community, we are losing our reputation, which we don't want to happen in Taiwan."
The 34-member delegation of DPP and TSU legislators arrived Monday and will leave Washington today after an intensive round of meetings with US congressmen and officials.
In addition to meeting many of the roughly 116 members of the recently-formed Taiwan Caucus, the group had breakfast Tuesday with several State Department officials and were to be briefed yesterday by Pentagon officials on last week's Defense Department report on China's military capabilities and their potential threat to Taiwan.
Other issues expected to come up are the possibility of a Washington visit by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Taiwan's bid for observer status in the WHO, general cross-strait relations, WTO issues and prospects for a US-Taiwan free-trade agreement.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS