The movie industry is trying a new tactic in its war against people who download pirated copies of films over the Internet -- it's asking nicely. \nMovie studios were to launch a campaign yesterday that includes television ads and in-theater spots featuring makeup artists, set painters and other crafts people saying that piracy robs them of a living. \nThe Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has also developed a curriculum on copyrights for use in classrooms by Junior Achievement. \nThe "Digital Citizenship" program covers the history of copyright and culminates with a nationwide contest in which students suggest ways to persuade peers that swapping illegal copies of music and movies is not only illegal, but wrong. \n"I don't expect anyone to have sympathy for me or for other executives," said Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp, whose Twentieth Century Fox studio made the spots. "What we are endeavoring to do is both communicate that it's wrong and also communicate that there are human stakes and that those stakes are not just millionaires making less millions." \nThe film and music industries have been aggressive over the past year or so in enforcing their copyrights in the courts as well as lobbying for tougher laws to punish those who swap music and movie files over the Internet. \nWhile copies of popular blockbusters can be found on the Internet -- sometimes days before the movie is released to theaters -- computer copies of films are still too large to download easily and are often poor quality copies made using hand-held camcorders. \nMusic files, by contrast, are smaller and are CD quality. That fact led to services such as Napster, which was shut down after legal action taken by the music industry. \nMovie studios believe they still have a few years before Internet connections become fast enough to threaten them in the same way. Studios are experimenting with new business models, including making films available legitimately online through services such as Movielink. \n"We're not sitting on our hands like the music business did," Chernin said. \nUltimately, studios will succeed only if they move quickly to offer legitimate alternatives that consumers want, analysts say. \n"It may just be that consumers aren't quite ready yet to turn to the Internet for movies," said Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "But when they are, the answer will be to offer them a compelling legitimate alternative, not telling them to behave themselves." \nThe 30-second television ad will have its first run tomorrow night on all the broadcast networks and most cable channels during their first prime time break, sometime after 8:00pm. The first of several trailers will begin running Friday in most major theater chains around the country. \nThe first trailer features David Goldstein, a set painter who says that piracy hurts him more than film industry executives. Each ad ends with the tag line, "Movies. They're worth it." \nThe campaign will also include a Web site that outlines the moral implications of illegal downloading as well as the legal and practical consequences. \n"Taking something that doesn't belong to you is wrong," said Jack Valenti, president of the MPAA. "It's in the long term interest of people to understand there is no free lunch."
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: The KMT urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the arrivals cap, as they would lose their right to vote if they could not return by July 26 The COVID-19-related border control measures and the cap on the number of international arrivals are not being eased, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported 112 imported cases of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said a meeting was held yesterday morning in which the Cabinet decided that current border control measures would remain in place. He said the main considerations were global COVID-19 cases increasing 21 percent last week, imported cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 continuing to be detected
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday commenced mass production of 3-nanometer chips that are more powerful and efficient than predecessors, beating rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to a key milestone in the race to build the most advanced chips in the world. South Korea’s largest company said in a statement that it was beginning with 3-nanometer semiconductors for high-performance and specialized low-power computing applications before expanding to mobile processors. By applying so-called Gate-All-Around transistor architecture, Samsung’s 3-nanometer products reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent and improve performance by 23 percent compared with 5-nanometer chips, it said. Samsung’s push to be first
Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) has been criticized by the “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the Web — for saying “Hong Kong jia you [加油, an expression of encouragement].” To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on Friday, China Central Television made a series of programs in which it interviewed Cheung and other celebrities. Cheung, speaking in Cantonese, said in the interview that “Hong Kong has been through a lot in the past 25 years, including ups and downs” and ended with the phrase “Hong
‘STRONG SUPPORT’: Liberal International expressed concern over Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, saying they could undermine regional peace Liberal International on Saturday passed a “World Today Resolution” recognizing the threat that China poses to Taiwan, while supporting Taipei’s inclusion in international organizations. Liberal International was established in 1947 as a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. Last week, it held its 63rd congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was attended by 221 representatives from 58 countries. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the congress’ opening on Thursday. DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) yesterday said the party, which has been a member of