Politic-Economic-Society-Tech

Hong Kong makes IPR pirates walk the plank 

The piracy of intellectual property (IPR) in Hong Kong is now fully under control, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Raymond Wong, told a conference on Tuesday. 

Wong was addressing the opening ceremony of the Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protection for the World Customs Organization (WCO) Asia-Pacific Region. "The sales figures of the music, film and software industries are the best indicators attesting to the current state of affairs," he said, quoted in a government statement. 

The four-day seminar is being hosted by Hong Kong Customs, in support of the WCO's initiative for protection of IPR. Its aim is to promote partnership between Customs and the intellectual property industry with a view to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of IPR enforcement in the region. 

Taking part in the seminar are more than 60 participants, including officials responsible for IPR enforcement function in the Asia-Pacific Region and business experts representing the intellectual property industry worldwide. Twenty-three WCO member administrations in the Asia-Pacific region are represented. 

Hong Kong Customs first hosted the WCO Regional IPR Seminar on 1996. In recognition of its success as a center of excellence in IPR enforcement, Hong Kong Customs was invited to host the event again. 

Wong said the key element of Hong Kong's success is an effective enforcement strategy that is backed not just by adequate resources but also by the highest authority in Hong Kong. "We take a two-pronged approach, directing vigorous, sustained, enforcement action at both the supply side as well as the retail end of the piracy business," he explained. "To make our strategy a success, we have allocated a good portion of our precious, limited resources to enforce the protection of intellectual property rights. 

"We have an establishment of 285 officers in the Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau," he explained. "We have a Special Task Force established in June 1999 with 185 officers. Their role is to enhance even further our enforcement action in cracking down on piracy activities at the retail level. We have also selected seven officers from the core of our most computer literate personnel to form the Anti-Internet Piracy Team, which is supported by a Computer Forensic Laboratory, to tackle copyright piracy in cyberspace," he pointed out. 

Wong noted that the Hong Kong Customs probably has the largest enforcement team in the world dedicated solely to the fight against piracy. 

As for legislation on IPR protection, Wong said that over the years Hong Kong had been continuously engaged in a painstaking process of improving its arsenal of laws on the protection of IPR. "We have now a first-class, comprehensive, legal framework for the protection of IPR that is the envy of developed economies," he said. 

Wong pointed out that the heavy sentences handed out by the courts for IPR offences would also served as a ready deterrent anywhere in the world. "The average sentence for an IPR offense is nine months, with the heaviest sentence so far recorded at 48 months in jail and HK$1.04 million [US$133,000] in fines," he added. 

Wong said that the other essential element that has helped Hong Kong Customs' efforts in IPR protection is the effective partnership with the industry. "Intellectual property is primarily a private economic right, and it is in the best interest of the rights owners to defend it themselves. While we are the lead agency in enforcement, rights owners must share the responsibility in supporting Customs in protecting their own rights," he explained. 

Wong said that on a day-to-day basis, local IPR owners helped the Hong Kong Customs identify the authenticity of the pirated goods, provide expert witnesses to testify in criminal proceedings and furnish needed documentation. 

To facilitate participation by the industry side, Wong said that Hong Kong Customs had made the enforcement system and procedures transparent to enable the rights owners to know exactly how it works. 

"This transparent system actually helps build up mutual trust between the government and the industry, allowing both sides to understand how best we can achieve our common goal," he said. 

(Asia Pulse) 

source: atimes.com, 19 July 2001