Chinese Copyright – An Oxymoron?

Let me start by saying that I’m not into China bashing. I think that in many cases China has become a scapegoat for western governments for problems that we have created ourselves through greed, jingoism and whole bunch of other things that are not really the point in this post. 

However, one thing that has annoyed me a bit about China is the lack of copyright enforcement. For me it’s one of the biggest examples of China’s supposed “cheating” when it comes to international trade.  

Now I’m not talking about home software or downloading films here. I personally don’t mind if a person who doesn’t have the money downloads an illegal copy of my book. Besides, most Chinese would not be able to afford a real copy of windows and would not buy a full price DVD (or my book) if it was available to them; the relative costs are just too much. And on that side of the argument publishers and producers only have themselves to blame. 

For me the unfair part comes once we starting getting into companies, schools and other institutions. I’ve worked in four or five different schools, both public and private and not once have I seen a legal copy of software. In fact, once, when I was at the computer science department, I found an illegal copy of “XMLspy”. This is a product I was involved in developing when I lived in Austria. From what I’ve read and seen such piracy is common place throughout China. The book we had in the computer science department quoted the illegal software figure at over 90% of all software used.

Now I think China could have been forgiven for this ten years ago. But in the current state of things where China is rich and there are massive trade imbalances, it seems pretty unfair. 

If you think about Altova, the middle/small company that I worked for in Austria. They’re spending a lot of money to develop that product, but getting nothing back from it. Yet some people in China are using it to make money from Austrian companies – possibly even Altova - through the products they manufacture. It’s a one way flow of cash for a two way flow of goods and services.  

Moreover China has started moving in on creative industries as well, not just manufacturing. So who can create a cheaper application? The Austrian company that has to pay thousands for software licenses or the company that’s getting them for free? In this case the Austrian company is effectively subsidising the Chinese company by paying towards the development costs of the software. Without the one company paying, there would be no software for either.   

 And it’s the same for all industries. The light bulb factory in Scotland has to pay its share of fees for software licensing, while the Chinese light bulb factory can use the products for free. It’s small part of the reason China can make cheaper bulbs. It’s especially hard for start up businesses where technology costs are can be a large part of the start up fees. It’s not a fair contest.

So what can we do about it? Well for a start governments have to start raising this issue with China more. In my admittedly limited experience with Chinese people is that if you stand up to them in a firm but polite way then you will get results. Not taking action seems to be seen as a green light to do something even when saying not to.  Although I do wonder how much control over ground level issues like this the government of China really has.

What’s really needed is a change in the mindset of the Chinese people – no easy task. And the only way of doing this is education, which is something that the Chinese government has to be on board for. But why wouldn’t they be?

The thing is, it’s not just in the West’s interests to improve the copyright law. It’s in China’s interests as well. If the reports I’ve read are true, China is trying to move away from its manufacturing focus and trying to develop its creative and service industries instead (or possibly as well as). But is anyone going to open a software company in place where they know that they will make no money for their products? Is anyone going to spend millions of investment in new technology only to have it stolen and sold for a fraction of the price? 

Moreover, I think of my students in the computer science department. What jobs are there going to be for them in the future? Sure there will be some large scale developments and governments or military jobs, but that’s a small number of positions  compared to the number of graduates. Most, with their high education, will probably end up doing menial jobs in factories far away from their homes to pay the rent.

Frankly I don’t think there is a simple solution to this problem. But inaction is certainly not the way to go. Raising the issue with China is a start, but it means little without reciprocal financial punishments. On the other side, software companies have to start charging reasonable prices, based on an international mean for their products, so as not to keep pricing companies in low wage countries out of buying. Maybe with these and some other changes we can come to an agreement on a fair way to deal with copyright.   

That's a shame.

We've been having a bit of trouble here at the university of late with students, and others, destroying the trees, as well as the flower beds below. The problem is that the trees have fruits that people want to get to and they don't seem to mind what damage is done on the way. The strange thing I've found, is that when talking to students they seem to know that it's wrong to steal the fruit and yet they do it anyway. This sort contradiction seems to come up again and again with Chinese people. Yet it seems that their general idea of morality is not that different from my own: theft is wrong, killing is wrong, destroying the environment is wrong. There seems to be no disagreement on these things, expect when you start getting into nationalist politics.

One thing I've been thinking about is that I could be part of the shame culture of China as opposed to the guilt culture that I've grown up in. So what's the difference between shame and guilt?

Well, a guilt culture is one where you take personal responsibility for your own moral choices, while the a shame culture is one when guilt is determined, not by your actions, but by others observation or discovery of your actions. In the example of the students and the fruit, the action only really becomes “wrong” if they are caught doing it. Where as in a guilt culture they would feel bad for stealing the fruit, observed or not.

Of course this is an over simplification, I'm pretty sure that Chinese people feel guilty about certain actions. Likewise I'm sure there are plenty of examples in the west of where some actions are based on shame and not guilt - think of all the things you do behind closed doors that are not immoral, but you wouldn't like others to see. You wouldn't feel guilty if someone walked in, but you might feel shame – unless you like others to watch. But It does seem that there is a difference of degrees between China and my own feelings.

I'm no anthropologist, but I would guess that it has some connection with judeo-christian religions as compared with other eastern religions, especially Confucianism. Although UK has pretty much abandoned its Christian heritage, just as China has abandoned it's own religions. They do still seem to be the yard stick by which we measure our own morality. Confucianist teachings were based on the concept of shame and honor, while Christian religion is more based on personal guilt and I imagine that we've carried these into the present day.

I also wonder if this extends higher into the actions of the Chinese government in general. When it comes to certain things, especially human rights, it seems that they are only wrong (they only bring shame upon China) when other countries point out that they are doing wrong. Until then everything is fine. It only seems to be the fact that other countries have noticed that brings about negative feeling - It's not the actions that they are taking themselves that are wrong. In which case it might explain why they go to such great lengths to stop people noticing and why they are so keen on people “not interfering with the internal policies of China.”   

Here at the end of everything.

Being here in China and watching the news back home, I can't help but feel that I am in a privileged position for watching the end of the West. On the net I watch the growing pessimism from back home at the seemingly unstoppable rise of national debts and unemployment. While here in China I listen to the unswayable optimism and watch as new businesses and buildings rise up around me. I know it's not a certainty yet, but at the moment all the signs point to the end for the west.

So would it be such at terrible thing for west to end? Probably not. As a teacher I would give the West a passing grade for what he has achieved, but he's hardly been a Prefect. I mean his creativity and production has been quite good, but he could do with spending a bit more time on his understanding of environment consequences and he really needs to stop picking on the other kids.

For me the really worry is the alternative. If China was brining a new way of doing things to world then I would be more supportive of its rise, but if anything it seems like a step back. China has coupled the old communist autocracy with current rampant capitalism to create a highly productive country – economically speaking. And in the process has thrown away the things that were good about old communism (economic equality) and the current system (universal suffrage). If anything China today looks much more like industrial Britain, with a small, rich upper-class and a large poor working-class. True it is not the demon that many make it out to be, but it's far from being a paragon society or anything that the world should aspire to.   

There is still hope of course. China still has a whole host of problems that it needs to sort out before it can truly become dominant. Not least that as the West falls it will have to find alternative paradigms for its economy. Currently, the majority of Chinese revenue comes from manufacturing, the demand for which comes primarily from the West. Can it alter it's economy in time before the demand ends?

There is also the possibly that as China develops it will move from it's current system into something more appealing. Big changes have happened already and there are signs of possible improvements in the areas that cause me the most concern. Of course, only time will tell.   

Cigarettes and Politics

The BBC and other news agencies often make it seem like the people in China are on the edge of revolution, just waiting for their chance to rise up. It's far from the images I've seen, most people seem content with the party and their leadership, but something happened the other day that made me think otherwise.

Recently the Chinese government said they were going to introduce a smoking ban in public places, bring them into line with many other countries in the world. A move which seemed like a good idea to me, as most young people I've met don't like being around people that smoke.

It was when I went to bathroom during a break in class that I found half a dozen male students of mind all crowded round the window smoking. I asked them what they would do when the ban came into effect.

“What they going to do about?” said the most confident one, “They can't make people.” Clearly the others agreed.

Statements like this a pretty rare from students, who are normally quite nationalistic and it did make me wonder if times were changing.

On reflection, it's probably part of this unspoken agreement that seems to exist between the Chinese people and communist party:

“You get to run the country as long as things keep getting better, but don't interfere in our day to day lives.”

Like fake DVD's (including all the “banned” films), free music downloads, local gambling and other things that are supposed to be illegal in China, smoking is public places is almost certainly here to stay. For the government, to try and really enforce the ban would be to break that unspoken agreement and is something they're not going to risk their leadership over.

A Confession

  We recently had a few days holiday and I decided to go on a little cycle trip. I picked a point on the map, a lake in the west, and started heading towards it – I didn't get far.

About sixtey kilometers from the city I live in, as I was leaving another city called DengZhou, I met a guy called Shao Shan (Little mountain), who was ridding his scooter back home. We travelled together for a while and seemed to get on well. For a start he spoke “proper” chinese, rather than the local language that I still struggle to understand. I think as well the fact that he had spent so much time away from his home gave us some things in common to talk about.

  He invited me back to stay with his family for the night and I got to take a trip out in to the Chinese countryside. It was a nice experience, as not only did I get to see a part of Chinese life that few make contact with, but also I had someone who could explain it to me as well.

  Now at that time it was the grave sweeping festival and I went with Shao Shan to see his grandmother's grave: a large mound, about a meter or so high in the middle of a maize field. He tapped some money on to large blocks of paper, which he then set light to (the paper not the money), before kowtowing to the mound serval times. The cermony was finshed after he set off a line of firecrackers. Shao Shan told me much about his grandmother, the woman who had raised him for the most part and I couldn't help but be reminded of my own Nana.

  My Nana, as we called her, was not really our relation. She was an odler woman who had been a close friend of my mothers for a long time. I think they may even have been novice nuns at the same time, though I can't be sure. Nana looked after us a lot, we went to her house every day after school for dinner and she looked after us in exactly the same way a grandmother would.

  I'm not sure why, perhaps because we were older, perhaps she just missed her home, but at some point Nana returned her real family in Shropshire, somewhere on the border with Wales. Despite all she had done for me, I didn't keep in touch anywhere near as much as should have done, just a phone call now and again, and I'm embarrssed to think how much I took her for granted.

  It was maybe about a year after I learned to drive that I decided I should try to go down and visit Nana. I called her up and made some vague plans to go and see her after my exams – it never happened. I can't remember why exactly, it was just one of those things that I kept putting off and putting off, maybe there was a good excuse - probably there wasn't.

  I eventualy made it down to Nana's home in time for the funeral and, even today, I still feel shame for never having repaid the kindness that she showed to me and my family. But my vist to Shao Shan's grandmother's grave made me realise that I never learned my lesson from Nana's death. I am still as selfish and still forget to show thanks to those in my life who have always been there for me.

Why show respect for the dead, when we don't show respect for the living?