Do the companies really expect Chinese consumers to give a shit about their losses through piracy? The Chinese have a very different view about ownership rights to the Western world that Universal et al are used to. It's not just music they're happy to share and share alike - branded physical items, like clothes, are equally copied without a second thought.

Kind of nice in a way.

Paris as an icon 'cos she's unique and even the Chinese can't copy her. Thank God.

there is a big difference between baidu and yahoo!china.

One is Chinese and the other isn't. China is big enough and ugly enough to be just as self interested and protectionist as the Americans.

Americans vs Chinese branch of American company that is in competition with home grown company. Americans win.

Americans vs Chinese company that is central to Chinese social/economic interests(like google is to the west) - well you figure out who the likely winner is.

Much like, why does RIAA/IFPI go after second rate local targets and torrent/sharing systems/search tools run by people who arn't American? As there is just enough reason to go after Google as there is pirate bay or Baidu - just do a search for *a film name* torrent on google and ping depending on the film you will see many torrents.

There was the Uni thing and Napster but neither of those had much power to fight against the government backed industry.

Apart from looking like a Chineese verison of Google what exactly has it done? I just typed in my company name and up it popped - just like Google really.

It wasn't made in the west I suppose

"[Various pigopolists] accuse Baidu of violating copyright by providing access to music files"

Surely it's the ISPs at each end and the stuff in the middle which provides *access*. Baidu just tells people where they are.

AFAIK Baidu are neither an ISP nor a proxy service.

Still, I guess it keeps the lawyers in the style to which they've become accustomed.

John

Mr Kennedy to Baidu:

Cease, ahem... and desist!

Baidu to Mr Kennedy:

__I__

<oIoo

Google is great for getting MP3 and movies, so much better then the piratebay, limewire or whatever.

play with this and see what I mean

?intitle:index.of? mp3 [artist] [title]

Paris because she is brighter then the music industry

Google is great for getting MP3 and movies, so much better then the piratebay, limewire or whatever.

play with this and see what I mean

?intitle:index.of? mp3 [artist] [title]

replace MP3 for the filetype of your choice,

Paris because she is brighter then the music industry

Would that be this type of partnership - the USA to keep importing goods from PRC and printing money to pay for them, while expecting that same money to be used to buy US bonds to keep the US ticking along (or to suffer inflation if left sitting in a bank in China). Does the PRC know about this "building partnerships"? You bet it does.

"The music industry in China wants partnership with the technology companies – but you cannot build partnership on the basis of systemic theft of copyrighted music and that is why we have been forced to take further actions"

Good grief! "I want a partnership with the hot bird down the road, but you cannot build a partnership on the basis of her bringing up the fact that I beat my previous partners senseless and that is why I've been forced to take further actions." Yes, try that in court...

Bottom line: You cannot build a partnership by force. Nobody wants to partner with you after what you have done and are doing to your existing partners (the artists. Waaah! You artsy types are asking too much for your creations. Here's 8% instead) so you're pissing in the wind. With that image in your mind, trying to sue Baidu in China is a surer way to "get your own back" than urinating over the windward gunwale...

Piracy is not the answer, of course. The answer is removing these irrelevant dolts from the mix before they screw our musical culture up completely. That includes releasing crap as well as screwing artists.

The first language of most Chinese people isn't English. So Baidu in English looks like Google, but its Chinese search engine was earlier and better than Google's.

(Google is now up there, but Baidu had already gained market share by the time its product in China was any good)

I wonder if the Chinese have heard of Arkle v Pressdram?

I was in a mall in Xi'an (city in china) and tried to purchase a DVD, thinking malls are typically the most stalwart and expensive places. Every DVD was a company produced rip... so much for english subtitles.. and at a price of about 2 quid. Aside from tinge of depression at not being able to indulge in my native language, it made me realize that they really just do not have the money to pay copyrighted material. The poor blokes couldn't even enjoy tax free american tobacco!

Fortunately, the taxi ride home was so harrowing that I was able to enjoy some of my own english phrases.

Who always misreads Phonographic wrong the on first read?

If they think Baidu is a soft touch, they've got another think coming !! Chinese courts are not like American courts. They will not suffer nuisance cases gladly. If they can't prove their case, then Baidu have to right to counter-sue for malicious injury and for punitive damages for loss of "face" (goodwill).

"Who always misreads Phonographic wrong the on first read?"

What a coincidence. I always misread it as Photographic too.

"Who always misreads Phonographic wrong the on first read?"

Nope.

I tend to get "Pornographic"

anon - naturally ;-)

"I tend to get "Pornographic""

Me too. Which makes me awfully sorry as that is an insult to the Pornographic industry.

It is obvious that you lot have over-indulged in self-satisfaction and that has affected your eye-sight !!

Either visit an optician or get a girlfriend or, Allah be praised, get a girlfriend who *IS* an optician !!

PH, the symbol of self-indulgence