China Faces Piracy Suit Over Censorship Software 113
angry tapir writes "Web software filtering vendor CyberSitter has filed a $2.2B lawsuit against the Chinese government, two Chinese software makers, and seven major computer manufacturers for their distribution of Green Dam Youth Escort, a controversial Web filtering package the Chinese government had mandated to be installed on computers sold there. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that Green Dam copied code from CyberSitter."
I'll take Sovereign Immunity for the block (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:IN SOVIET CHINA... wait, they still are! (Score:5, Insightful)
A lot of copyright laws are international, and China is a signatory. There are good business reasons to do this, even though such laws are frequently and casually violated in China, even moreso than in the USA.
Re:Tag this with goodluckwiththat (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, the USA could take that to the WTO... wait, we don't even respect the WTO anymore.
Re:I'll take Sovereign Immunity for the block (Score:3, Insightful)
China has plenty of assets in the US, which can be ceased, if the judge says so...
Re:They may have solved the puzzle... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think you may have solved the puzzle.
Re:IN SOVIET CHINA... wait, they still are! (Score:5, Insightful)
A lot of copyright laws are international, and China is a signatory.
They could, however, say "We're the fifth of the Earth's population, fucker", and make their own rules. A country of a billion does not automatically have to accept the rules of 300 million.
Nor do we have to accept any rules they make, unless they want to send some of that billion over here to occupy us. Not saying that couldn't happen, but it's not going to happen over a copyright case.
Besides, nobody is trying to say that U.S. law should apply anywhere but in the United States. But China has made a number of trade agreements, signed some treaties, and it's going to be interesting to see if they're willing to live up to those obligations. My guess is they won't.
Re:Tag this with goodluckwiththat (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:"Intellectual Property" hampers economic growth (Score:2, Insightful)