Music Giants Sue Baidu Over Music Downloads 211
chengee writes "Music giants Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and their local subsidiaries are suing Chinese search engine Baidu for allegedly infringing the copyright of hundreds of songs, a press report said Friday. Looks like the party is going to be over for Chinese downloaders. But more importantly how will this lawsuit turn out in a place known for its lax copyright laws?"
When it suits them... (Score:4, Interesting)
This round? Probably something in spirit in favor of the RIAA, but still not as well enforced or as speedily as they would like. Not as fast as, say a tune with the lyrics like "Taiwan Independence Day, Hooray!" or "Falun Gong, get it on", where everyone would remark at the swiftness and finality of their enforcement.
But with the looming US debt owed to China, how long before they say, "No, Yankee, we don't feel like it. What are you going to do about it" and grin the grin of one who knows they hold the other by the short hairs?
China has a track record of honoring treaties and peace when they have larger goals in sight. Once they have achieved those goals... The West will see how much they really care what the rest of the world has to say and tell it what opinion it should share of the great PRC.
They're patient, they've put up with hundreds of years of crap and they know it. Has the West forgotten?
There has been a growing concern among investors over the company's prospects. Its shares dropped 28 percent in New York Wednesday after two analysts warned the stock was seriously overvalued.
And yet Google isn't?
Re:When it suits them... (Score:5, Insightful)
Give credit where credit is due. No country ever respected treaties they could infringe without fear of punishment, if they had something to gain from it.
It's just a fact of history: the signature on a treaty is no stronger than the signing arm.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:5, Insightful)
Which is exactly why the US completely disregards NAFTA - the framework they themselves helped build.
They only apply NAFTA as it suits them, not the other way around. The US is no different than China IMO.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
I am absolutely no fan of GWB, but it is always better to call him on things that he has screwed up. There are plenty of them (deficit, lies, druggie, false wars, general incompetence, hiding of evidence, etc), so there is no need to hit him on things that he did not do (assuming that you are implying that NAFTA was an issue). As far as Kyoto goes,
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Now, that's not to say that we're not causin
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Now, as to environmentalists causing ALL the issues, well that is simply not so. After all, the best place to locate national storage of sp
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Sometimes you have to act and do things without total proof.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
It's clear that you like being selective in what you read anyway, so there's no real use in continuing your immature rant.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
The "intelligent falling" theory is a logically valid theory, and holds up against the evidence. It might be "God" that pushes things down when you let go of them. We cannot prove that if you personally jumped off that cliff, on that particular day and time, that you would fall.
All we can do is generalise from past experiments.
Re:please.... (Score:2)
Eh, the US Senate voted 100 to 0 for the RealID act too, even after a good number of them pointed out they had MANY good reasons for voting against it. Then they proved their integrity and voted FOR it so as not to give their political opponents leverage because it was hidden in the military spending bill.
There are many good reasons to argue against Kyoto. A unanimous senate vote s
Re:please.... (Score:2)
When it comes to international treates the President has as much power as the Queen of England. They all have to be approved by the Senate. Remember Wilson and the League of Nations and his 14pts at the end of WWI? The treaty wasn't approved by the Senate and we weren't offically at peace with Germany until 1921.
"the US Senate voted 100 to 0 for the RealID act too...because it wa
Re:please.... (Score:2)
Re:please.... (Score:2)
But you compared the unanimous Senate vote againstthe Kyoto Treaty to the unanimous Senate vote for a spending bill that included something they don't like.
Voting for something knowing that it includes bad riders is not the same as voting against one particular thing.
Re:please.... (Score:2)
Re:No doubt, like everything - it's G.W.'s fault.. (Score:2)
Let's talk oppression:
Guantanamo Bay
They open a POW camp in Cuba, who hasn't signed the Geneva convention. How fitting isn't it?
And you Americans complain that the Chinese govt censors, but google does the same thing under the name of the DMCA. Give me a break.
Re:No doubt, like everything - it's G.W.'s fault.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes. In many ways we're moving in the wrong direction, but we have quite a ways to go before we reach the level of the tyrants in Beijing.
And you Americans complain that the Chinese govt censors, but google does the same thing under the name of the DMCA.
No, that is not remotely close to the same thing. The DMCA sucks, but I can say that the DMCA sucks without being hauled away and shot by government stormtroopers.
Re:No doubt, like everything - it's G.W.'s fault.. (Score:2)
They open a POW camp in Cuba, who hasn't signed the Geneva Convention. How fitting isn't it?
1. It's a US military base, so it's bound by the Geneva convention.
2. The people who were brought there were not wearing uniforms. Therefore, under the Geneva Convention, they are NOT POWs and have NO RIGHTS. The Geneva Convention would not prevent any country from torturing them and then killing them. Now, I'm not saying that the US should do this (or that it's been done), but that they have no lega
Re:No doubt, like everything - it's G.W.'s fault.. (Score:2)
In America, everyone has certain inalienable rights, but I guess a US base doesn't count.
Furthermore, if America is fighting a "War on terror" and have detained someone for being involed in terror, can't we assume that they are a "Prisoner of War"?
America just changed the definition so that they don't have to abide by international law. They are POW's, being held without trial or due process, many for an unjustified period. That's why I compare the US to China - this i
Re:No doubt, like everything - it's G.W.'s fault.. (Score:2)
They spin laws in their favour. Simply calling them detainees instead of POW's itself is a violation of article 4 of the Geneva convention. After all, the term detainee is nothing more than a euphamism for prisoner anywah.
Re:No doubt, like everything - it's G.W.'s fault.. (Score:2)
Reading article 4, the only place that I can see these guys as potentially being covered is 4.A(2):
(2) Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such or
Re:GMAFB! (Score:2)
Find me one transcript of one trial of any of these people.
Truth be told, y'all believe in due process when it suits you, but then you lock ppl up in Guantanamo Bay without trial.
You guys go wage war in the name of freedom, yet you ignore the notion of freedom at home. It's really pathetic IMO.
Re:GMAFB! (Score:2)
A desire for due process does not equal "etting these bastards free once they hit our shores. Free to commit more attocities, more murder in the name of their 'god'."
Re:NO, I'm sorry... (Score:2)
Look, if someone is saying they will commit a crime, that can be brought before a judge. We have procedures in place now to deal with people we have arrested that we feel are too dangerous to let out on bail - namely, no bail.
But I cannot think of any good that can come from letting the government just hold anyone they like indefinately without charges or d
I agree, let's have 'rules'... (Score:2)
These people are enemy combatants and I believe the gov't has sufficient evidence to keep them how they like.
And the 'no bail' argument is hardly sufficient for me. Remember, we live in an age of trial lawyers who managed to free O.J. for God's sake
Re:NO, I'm sorry... (Score:2)
If this is a war, then declare them POWs.
However, as they are not members of a standing army and were not in any uniforms when captured - they don't fit the description of POWs.
There's already functions in place to deal with "enemy combatants" and has been for over a century.
Yes, there have been. Namely: shoot on sight. It's only been in the last few years that our rules of engagement have disallowed this
A Similar but Different situation... (Score:2)
This is a holy war based on religious principles. Our own revolution was fought due to high taxation and an inability to control our country's destiny. Nonetheless, the Brits were known to target the homes of our 'terrorists' and kill women and children as well so let's not quib
Re:I agree, let's have 'rules'... (Score:2)
Sure, because a bunch of knee-jerk congressmen changed them...
I mean it's not like the 9/11 bastards showed up in uniforms toting weapons, right?
And its not like the Oklahoma City Bombing was any different in regards to rules followed by "the enemy." Yet Timothy McVeigh had a fair trial. You will say "but 9/11 is different." Sure is, during 9/11 YOUR party was in power and you want to milk that for all its worth. An old fashioned power grab. Its not the wors
Re:I agree, let's have 'rules'... (Score:2)
There WAS a difference in the OK bombing - McVeigh was a CITIZEN of the U.S. These jackoffs from Afghanistan and elsewhere aren't even a real army. They are in limbo. Forgive me for not feeling sorry for them.
And how presisely did any Republican gain 'extra power'? And if they have, what do you think they are doing with it? Got any proof, or is this
Re:I agree, let's have 'rules'... (Score:2)
For your evidence, just look at Bush's approval ratings after 9/11. He went from "guy that kinda won the election" to "father America" in one day. I'm not bitter. I kind of like Bush (I believe he is a good man) and I agree with many that Gore would have been worse in the role. I don't like what his cronies did with his gained power.
And if they have, what do you think they are doing with it?
After 9/11, the Pentagon used the event as an excuse to e
Re:Shows what you know... (Score:2)
Re:Shows what you know... (Score:2)
You make no sense whatsoever!
Re:Terrific! Encore! (Score:2)
As a moderate, I prefer that to a party that gets its entire social positions from a single book ( Bible).
I voted for Bush in the past but I can't align myself with the Republicans anymore in the future. It has given up its core beliefs (less government, FISCAL FREAKING RESPONSIBILITY), and now panders to ignorant Bible-belt voters. Why create a decent domestic policy when people
So where is the proof? (Score:2)
I can tell you this, it cost me $40 in tariffs to send an old computer monitor to a friend in Canada, as a gift. I also happen to know that Canada has huge tariffs on many USA goods.
If you can supply proof of USA wrong doing, I would be glad to read it.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
However, since I'm from Venezuela, my knowledge of US history is limited to what I've seen on looney tunes, but I do remember talking about that in high school about that regarding the native venezuelans (that are sometimes called indios).
Re:When it suits them... (Score:5, Insightful)
It is a two way street and will be for quite some time. China buys a lot of US bonds. But the US is China's largest market by far and for the forseeable future. They need the US to keep buying from them (remember the whole brohaha over most-favored-nation trading status). Additionally, China has a couple of looming problems - the double-digit economic growth rates are unstustainble for the long run, their economy will slow, at which point they will need the US market even more. Secondly, the one-child policy has produced a major age inversion - it is going to get harder to support the aging population with less able-bodied people entering the workforce than are retiring from it.
Over the past year, China has made a show of cracking down on flagrant IP violators. My impression (and that's all it is, an impression) is that big crackdowns have had no long-term effects on the 'market' as a whole.
This case is different in that Baidu is in the top-5 websites with the most page-hits in all of the world, I suspect that the Chinese goverment has "pride" in Baidu and a big punishment would be considered a loss of face. But, big show-punishments seems to be how they've handled similar complaints recently. So there is probably some level of internal conflict here. Just my occidental analysis of the situation.
And yet Google isn't [overvalued]?
Not the way Baidu is, see this analysis. [theinquirer.net]
They have a billion people... (Score:2)
Re:When it suits them... (Score:5, Interesting)
That is because we will have no manufactuering, no infrastructure, and quite honestly, no education. The only thing that we will have is abstract IP (music, books, software, etc). China is methodically destroying the west and making sure that they are in a good position. Sadly, our leaders do not get it.
As to the overvalueing, most of software companies are overvalues. MS? what do they have that is worth what they are valued at? Their monopoly, which is slowly being taken apart by the marketplace. Google? Yeah, they are overvalued. But I think that they are making hay of what they have. Hopefully, they remain in the top.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
China is methodically destroying the west and making sure that they are in a good position.
The west ain't just America, baby.
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
Furthermore, Europe still makes stuff, and usually high-value stuff, which is exported: nice cars, foods, et
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
If China chooses to violate US IP, the US could just as easily choose not to repay its debt, changing trillions of bonds into worthless paper. I seriously doubt the US ever WOULD do that, because it would make it very hard to get new loans in the future, but China hardly has the US "by the sho
Re:When it suits them... (Score:2)
"Falun Gong has got it going on,
It's all I want and I've waited for so long,
Communism, can't you see you're not the religion for me,
I know it might be wrong but I'm not listening to the Chinese government..."
Re:When it suits them... (Score:4, Informative)
The man in question was the Emperor Qinglong, in reply to an embassy from King George III, who was trying to open up trade with China. His reply is... amazing [cuny.edu]. The sheer arrogance and, so it seems, total ignorance on the part of the Celestial Emperor of what he was dealing with, is quite astounding. To say to the ruler of the rising British Empire, "Tremblingly obey and show no negligence!"... wow. Not really surprising things ended badly there. The whole letter is just one long spectacular insult.
Text of the Suit (in case of Slashdotting) (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Text of the Suit (in case of Slashdotting) (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Text of the Suit (in case of Slashdotting) (Score:2)
Darn. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Darn. (Score:2)
Re:Darn. (Score:2)
Is this another (Score:2)
Re:Is this another (Score:4, Informative)
Directories with mp3's in them
The "nfo" is to make sure its a group release
Great. (Score:4, Insightful)
Where you can walk down the street and buy hundreds of western media, IP, software and music products from corner pirate bootleggers, and nobody bats an eyelash.
But if you want to start a search engine that might help people find resources online, well, that won't be stood for. People might use that to "pirate" things.
This perfectly encapsulates the spirit of modern China: The capitalistic freedoms to lie, cheat and steal, but not the humanist freedoms to speak, organize and share information.
lying, cheating, and stealing is not capitalism (Score:2)
Capitalism is not about lying, cheating, and stealing. These actions are against capitalism. Capitalism is about free, open, voluntary trade where each person understands exactly what they're getting in a transaction. Unfortunately, in real life, both buyers and sellers lie, cheat, and steal to make up for deficiencies and gain an
Re:lying, cheating, and stealing is not capitalism (Score:2)
Capitalism (in fact, any interaction with humans) contains a plethora of lies. It's your job to wade through them and make a good trade, and be productive.
This is not much different from any other economic philosophy. Just, in capitalism, the rules are pretty much laid out from the get-go.
Re:Great. (Score:2)
yes i am sure some of the illegally duplicated western media makes it to other countries, but at not nearly the rate that it can be distributed over the internet.
Re:Great. (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually, lying, cheating and stealing *is* a significant part of capitalism. Worldcom, Tyco, the Savings and Loans scandals, you name it, these are just the tip of the iceberg.
But you're right that China is far worse for hypocrisy than we are, especially in the areas of a) the environment and b) intellectual property. I lived there for four years, and there is no concept of right and wrong there in most people's eyes, according to my perceptions. Just success and failure, and if you succeed, it doesn't
Places with lax copyright laws (Score:2, Insightful)
Avast Mateys!!! (Score:5, Funny)
The land lubbers be afterrr us for piracy, but I swear on my right eyepatch that we be faring better than the fate of walking the plank. Arrrrr.
Baidu be giving treasure maps to this here loot and booty (points with hook hand) but for all the enterprising yellowbeards, we have ways to bury our pirate gold. Arrrr.
"Old pirates, yes, they rob i;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took i
From the bottomless pit."
-- Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
Google (Score:5, Insightful)
"From the copyright point of view, we think differently than the music companies. Baidu is just a platform for music search," Liang said.
Why aren't they suing Google as well? Google makes it possible to find copyrighted material? Of course one could use a search engine to find the people who are providing illegal copies and sue them.Lax Laws? (Score:5, Insightful)
Additionally, I don't know if laws can even be lax. Seems like it's the enforcement that should be called lax rather then the law. After all, the laws DEFINE what's legal. Perhaps lenient would be a better word?
Re:Lax Laws? (Score:2)
Look around in the streets of Beijing. You'll see DVDs and VCDs for dirt cheap prices of say 3 RMB (8 RMB = 1 USD). Of course, many of those many not be real, but that's another story. You can walk into
The Intellectual Property Law of China (Score:2)
Google Music Search (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Google Music Search (Score:3, Informative)
Call me a lubber, but ye're searchin for the treasure with the wrong map.
Ye just needs to type in "Music Torrents" or "Music P2P" or "Music IRC Channel". Ye'll find the hidden treasure if ye seek it the right way!
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rum.. 6 mp3's in a dead man's stick!
Pirate-speak (Score:3, Informative)
On the high seas, it's assumed, of course, that -everyone- is hardy, else they'd have drowned already while leaning over the railing a bit too far when puking out their guts. But one greets one's fellows as 'me hearty', essentially complimenting them on their uncanny ability to remain in good spirits in the face of endless days of cold wind and salt water and fish stew yet again.
Please keep it straight, or they'll all know you for land-lubber and you'll be walking the
Re:And as for your name... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Google Music Search (Score:2)
Re:Google Music Search (Score:2)
Didn't stop them doing image search, of course, but that index doesn't seems to have been updated for about a year.
Lax? (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't you mean more sensible copyright laws?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if... (Score:4, Interesting)
So imagine if instead of doing what we all assume they're probably going to do (cave in to Sony, BMG et al), China turns round and says "Protect the artists? Sure! We'll do that - but only if you help us build a network that passes 100% of the purchase price of each MP3 directly to the artists that wrote or performed the tracks."
A few yuan multiplied by a few billion makes...?
Re:Wouldn't it be wonderful if... (Score:2)
Re:Wouldn't it be wonderful if... (Score:2)
Re:Wouldn't it be wonderful if... (Score:2)
Really, 100% is not such a silly idea when you have something called home recording equipment. Good music can still sound good
LAX? (Score:2)
Sounds like the work of.... (Score:2)
Busted for sharing emule (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Busted for sharing emule (Score:2)
If it's a copyrighted MP3, then yes, yes you are.
Is it just? I don't think so -- but I don't write the laws.
In prison, you'll be 'connecting' to more than E-mule.
Re:Busted for sharing emule (Score:2)
It doesn't make sense for it to be illegal -- but the law is the law.
Couldn't make the stock trading any weirder... (Score:2)
However, I was shocked to see the price chart of the stock for last week, on Yahoo finance [yahoo.com]. What the heck is that? Up 50% then down to where it started within three days? It reminds me of the summer of 2000...
Copyright Laws (Score:3, Interesting)
Bargaining tactic (Score:3, Insightful)
Liang said the discussions were "positive.""
This is the recording industry leaning on Baidu to come to terms with them. I'll bet if Baidu puts methods of discouraging illegal filesharing in place, and encourages legal (read: revenue-producing) downloads, the lawsuits will be dropped or settled out of court for a pittance.
Same MO as the earlier article today about the RIAA possible dropping huge settlement demands against Grokster et al.
Re:Bargaining tactic (Score:2)
article in the Standard (Score:2)
Who is Sue Baidu? (Score:2, Funny)
Who is Sue Baidu?
Why does she work for the Music Giants? Are they a baseball team?
And if she has got over music downloads, why haven't the rest of the RIAA got over them?
"Music Giants Sue Baidu Over Music Downloads." Well, she's a start. Now if only the rest of them catch on...
And in other news: Allies push bottles up Germans.
Probably a bad move... (Score:3, Insightful)
Bam...instant grassroots support for Baidu. Or whatever the grassroot equivalent is in a communist state.
What can these companies accomplish? (Score:3, Insightful)
Do they really expect to successfully sue these people?
Chinese plan for revenge on the RIAA... (Score:2)
Oh yea, like you didn't see this one coming.
Hmmm.... (Score:2)
Re:Hmmm.... (Score:2)
Then they'll carry on regardless.
Communism improved: now with less real commune (Score:2)
So now, in addition to encouraging the Chinese government to pimp out its poor so we can save a few shiny dimes at Walmart, we have the audacity to expect those same wage slaves to 'respect tha authoritah' of the corrupt US music industry?
Hello America, you can't bukkakke the world's poor and then wonder why you aren't seen as a bastion of free
Baidu had video search, too (Score:3, Interesting)
In a separate action to that brought by EMI et al, a Beijing court has just ordered Baidu.com to pay RMB68,000 to Shanghai Busheng Music Cultural Media Company. Busheng had accused Baidu of allowing Internet users to use the Baidu search engine to find and download copyright-protected music. The court has also ordered Baidu to stop providing the download services to online users. Baidu says it plans to appeal the decision. See http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.as px?storyID=221757+19-Sep-2005+RTRS&srch=baidu [reuters.com].
So perhaps the copyright laws will be enforced more strictly when it's locally-generated content that is being pirated.
WHAT?!?! (Score:2)
They can't stop real pirates from mass producing actual DVDs and CDs; why in the fuck would they think that they can stop casual pirates on the internet?
LK
Really intresting.. (Score:3, Informative)
They didn't expect Baidu to obey american law did they ?
Baidu loses first round of copyright dispute (Score:2, Informative)
Downloads vs uploads (Score:3)
Re:Music like information wants to be free. (Score:2)
Wait, there's this thing called Baidu that lets you copy music and give it away for FREE? DAMN, thanks for bringing this to my attention, Giant Music Corporations!
Re:Music like information wants to be free. (Score:2)
Re:I don't understand. Someone please explain. (Score:2)
Disallow:
mp3.baidu.com is foremost used for searching Chinese music, and it is *the* choice for those of us who like Chen Huilin and other Chinese artists. Many Chinese artists, particularly in Honggong and Taiwan, are signed with Western record companies.
Western artists, with a few exceptions, are not that very popular in China. Thus it is not at all like the Chinese are stealing Western stuff, but rather stealing their own shit, and this affects Western as well as Chinese record