Wednesday, August 02, 2006, 8/02/2006 06:03:00 PM

Chinese Crackdown Part Deux: Karaoke First, Copyright Second

By Todd
Our previous post was concerning a July 29, 2006 report from the China Daily concerning the government crackdown on copyright violations in China.

Our research indicates that this was not the sole Chinese crackdown in July of 2006 - China Daily also reported on July 21, 2006 that "the Chinese government's clampdown on pirated music and unhealthy entertainment content in karaoke bars has stirred a mounting debate, with karaoke fans arguing the move could deprive them of their joy while singing and bar owners calling for a revision amid concerns of profit losses, the Henan Business Newspaper reported on July 20."

Knowing that the Chinese tend to engage in conduct pursuant to a step-by-step planned process, it is readily apparent that the Chinese consider "unhealthy" karaoke content to be a slightly greater threat to their society than copyright theft.
back to top