Thailand Declares War On Piracy, Intellectual Property Violation: Nattawut

[axact]

That certainly ought to make some space on Sukkhumvit and Silom. be nice to see the fake videos, drugs and stupid sex toys off the sidewalks. nothing spells low class better

So apart from this fake goods problem Bangkok is high class ??????

Fake drugs and sex toys hmmm not seen any of those on offer. has any company got intellectual property rights on dildos ?

Looks like the only thing that might disappear off 'Sukkhumvit & Silcom if this law was ever seriously enforced would be the copy videos, not much space saved there so you might just be disappointed.

[crazygreg44]

I think that we have heard the same story thousands of times before. As long as the sellers keeps paying to the BiB, pirated goods will still be available.

To the Intellectual Property right owners: Please do not forget to provide us the possibility to buy the original stuff, which is very often impossible to find in Thailand !!!

Last week I wanted to buy 2010 Windows Office Home and Student. In the whole of Pattaya and Jomtien, I searched for three days! Not one shop had a legal copy of the program. Everybody is selling counterfeit products out there.

If all these crackdowns announced were coming true, the governemnt would have to close down MBK center and a millon streetstalls selling mobile & computer stuff. Almost everything out there is a copy from China. It gets sold to Thai people who are not able to tell the difference.

I finally found a legit Windows Office at IT-City in Pantip Plaza. But on the way there- i went past several stalls that sold the copies openly

Edited January 18, 2013 by crazygreg44

[scotto]

is it april the 1st already?

[hookedondhamma]

April fool's came early huh?

Edit: darn Scotto beat me to it

Edited January 18, 2013 by hookedondhamma

[Terry Newman]

An example of IP Theft is here.

DREAMLINER

No plan to review orders for new jet THE NATION

A copyright image used under fair use but the Copyright has been claimed by The Nation.

The Nation does this to nearly all the images they borrow and is a horrid policy.

I have even written to them explaining how it can really leave them exposed. No reply

Edited January 18, 2013 by Terry Newman

[utalkin2me]

Can we have a crackdown on these crackdowns?

[Andre0720]

I use to know a stall owner selling this stuff.

He use to get a call from the cops before the raid started so he could hide his stuff first...

Nothing is changed in that respect.

Sometimes they have to close shops for a day or a week. Until the BKK cops go back home.

But there will be a time when they will have to close permanently...

There will be....

[FarangTalk]

Malaysia and Cambo are much cheaper for fake merchandise these days, especially watches and handbags, if that's your thing.

[Crushdepth]

They do this once a year, every year.

Message to Thai government: Foreign governments aren't quite as stupid as you like to imagine.

[weary]

Just wait 5 years, when affordable 3D printing has gone mainstream...

[Phatcharanan]

Same old, same old

[jrincon17]

means the government officials have side jobs to sell this stuff also phuket will shut down totally

[culicine]

An example of IP Theft is here.

DREAMLINER

No plan to review orders for new jet THE NATION

A copyright image used under fair use but the Copyright has been claimed by The Nation.

The Nation does this to nearly all the images they borrow and is a horrid policy.

I have even written to them explaining how it can really leave them exposed. No reply

That's like a book I saw given to students at a well known education centre - "copying prohibited" printed clearly at the top - but I recognised the questions from a US SAT book

[animatic]

War on intelectual property rights # ... uh, well, #.... who knows?

They have said this so many times I've lost count,

and there is NO VISIBLE CHANGE.

Well one change, Nuttawat the redshirt is headlining this round.

I suppose that makes this one novel. A bad novel.

Nah, just same old same old, different face.

Edited January 18, 2013 by animatic

[noitom]

Most major and minor universities in Thailand "copy" textbooks and then resell the copies to students. The students pay anywhere from 2,3 4, 500 baht per copy, and copy machines and service centers are located at various points of "convenience" for mass copying. Indexes are rarely copied and copies are always black and white, so colored graphics are rendered useless as a teaching tool. Even teachers are often provided with a copy to teach. These universities also generally have bookstores, but the bookstores get barely a fraction of the activity of the illegal copy service centers staffed by university employees.

Thailand has a major issue with illegal copying, reselling , and promoting through the use of illegally obtained intellectual property. This announcement that Thailand is "declaring war" on piracy, intellectual property is merely frivolous showboating in typical insincere duplicitous Thai style. Thai newspapers and media should take note of this illegal copying issue and take up the mantra to campaign against it. Copy educational material and textbooks illegally is a disgrace and it is rampant in Thailand at all levels including university and post graduate. It is an outrage and far surpasses the action of petty thieves bootlegging a Lady Gaga cd.

[Soi Sauce]

Was on Silom and Suk 2day. No evidence, but then no tourists or money for the gang if this is enforced.

2mrw, 4 a larf, will go to Ko Sarn Rd, and MBK>

Pantip is too expensive 4 me.

BTW: Seen Skywalk yet?

[MAJIC]

It's going to be difficult to crack down on Piracy on Computer Programs,when you can now choose a program from a catalogue,pay a deposit,and come back 15 minute later,to collect your just burned off copy.

[FarangTalk]

Thailand has a major issue with illegal copying, reselling , and promoting through the use of illegally obtained intellectual property. This announcement that Thailand is "declaring war" on piracy, intellectual property is merely frivolous showboating in typical insincere duplicitous Thai style. Thai newspapers and media should take note of this illegal copying issue and take up the mantra to campaign against it. Copy educational material and textbooks illegally is a disgrace and it is rampant in Thailand at all levels including university and post graduate. It is an outrage and far surpasses the action of petty thieves bootlegging a Lady Gaga cd.

Spot on.

[A_Traveller]

Just to note that this public noise is more about the US Unfair Competition Act where the grace period for damages has now closed.

For those not aware of this in broad summary the act is designed to catch those who use illegal IT support the business "chain" allowing an increase in margin thereby providing a lower price ["Free IT"].

Details on potential liable parties and damages as stated in the UCA

Any manufacturer of products that are sold or offered for sale in US can have actions brought against it. A manufacturer can be held liable as long as illegal IT is used in its business operations during the

manufacturing process of such a product,

regardless of whether the place of manufacture is within US

Third parties with annual revenues of more than US$ 50m (such as large, chain store retailers) can also be held responsible if they sell or offer for sale products from manufacturers that utilize illegal IT in their business operations – but only after certain conditions are met (e.g., failure of manufacturer to appear in court)

The product in question can be sold stand-alone or as a part of another product.

Possible outcomes include:

in the event of a successful case brought against a manufacturer, the court may limit future sale of the product(s) in Washington, impose damages that amount to the greater of actual damages (e.g., economic

loss suffered by the competitor) or the retail price of the stolen IT, and award costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the plaintiff

in the event of a successful case brought against a third party, the court may award damages that amount to the lesser of the retail price of the stolen IT, or US$ 250,000

Note the technique of applying pressure through the retail distribution system as well. This makes their buying teams responsible and "police" of the process. In the not too distant future the aim would be for the question "Show me your licences - software" to start at the retail seller and run back through the chain to the ultimate manufacturer who as part of a contract would have to confirm that IT used in their business was legal [e.g. licensed or Open Source] just as today it is common for material quality to be stipulated.

Regards

PS There was a similar statement made recently about focusing on the manufacturing export sector as well.

Edited January 19, 2013 by A_Traveller

[TackyToo]

Can't wait to see what they come up with next. Crackdown on the ivory trade's a good bet.

How about getting rid of these lousy copies of genuine cops and politicians?

Not exactly intellectual property violations there.

Sorry! I should have known- something involving the term intellectual would not be of concern to these groups

[Tanlic]

I wonder just how many poor Thai people depend on Knock-off to feed themselves and their families?.....10.000? 100,000? 500,000 1 million? I have no idea but for one thing for sure it's an awful lot...just about every cd dvd T-shirt and gawd knows what else they sell at markets street stalls and road side are counterfeit.

Yeah lets stop all the knock-off stuff the poor they can starve.......never mind they came in their droves for 500 baht wait and see what happens when you deprive them of the only living they have.

The won't be stopping anything....just another article aimed at the outside world to say look! we are trying.

Please-you have to be joking. Do you reckon the poor people in the markets are the ones who buy this rubbish? They are selling on somebody else's behalf-the stallholders will just get jobs in construction.

I seriously don't understand why it's okay to rip people off just because you are poor.

In Thailand, most rip-off merchants are the wealthy, the stallholders just work for them.

Don't talk rubbish like hookers here they are independent and don't have pimps...almost every stall holder is exactly that many of the workers work along with friends or family.

No doubt some own more than a few but the vast amount don't simple as. We are talking knock offs here....

The suppliers are the suppliers and have no interest in running a stall where those who do have them are lucky if the meet their rent and eat from what they make..

How the heck do you make out the poor people who depend on sales are ripping you off or anyone else off?

Their crime is selling knock offs nothing more nothing less.......the ones doing the ripping off are the manufacturers copying some one else's logo.

You want ripped off try one of the designer shops in the Emporium they'll oblige no problem.\My grirlfriend seen a nice 250,000 baht handbag in there once....I think that was real and worth every penny and the girls selling it didn't even have a mask on..

[Konini]

Yes, pirate copies are the plague of the industry and certainly Windows 8 reflects that if you forsake the "Greed price levels" - people don't bother with pirates.

Unfortunately, the lesson hasn't been learnt - they've seen sales go so well that they've announced as from the end of this month big price hikes (three times what you can get an upgrade for at the moment). I had noticed that there weren't so many copies around on the net (filesharing not torrents) - still plenty, but nowhere near as many as when Windows 7 was new.

[theajarn]

Good show, but just the tip of a very big iceberg. Has anyone tried to buy a genuine version of Windows 7 lately? Impossible.

You can buy it in most IT shops in major shopping malls.... IN BANGKOK. It was impossible for me to get it in Pattaya, though!

[spidermike007]

Essentially this means that some poor mom and pop vendors will go to jail or pay fines. NONE of the guys who are the major producers of the goods will EVER see jail time, as they have the means to buy off the toy police. There is no crime here that cannot be made to go away with the right payment, to the correct insect. As long as Thailand continues to bury its head in the sand in this regard, they will remain on the international pirate lists. Period. End of story.

[Terry Newman]

Just wait 5 years, when affordable 3D printing has gone mainstream...

This is a really good point, it is amazing what they can do.

[theajarn]

"Thailand Declares War on Piracy, IP Violation"

...cue to the background music ripped off from a famous Hollywood film...

But of course "Thailand" forgets to mention just exactly who are exempt from this war, particularly the media and entertainment moguls etc. etc.

[Jawnie]

Status update. Visited Pantip Plaza yesterday where there are at least a dozen shops selling thousands of pirated software programs...all of your favorites going back for years. Thai government is not serious and any person visiting the malls knows that such "declarations of war" on piracy are sheer nonsense and for PR purposes only.

[jamhar]

STOP! I see a pair of shorts my size in that pic!! I WANT IT!

[utalkin2me]

Most major and minor universities in Thailand "copy" textbooks and then resell the copies to students. The students pay anywhere from 2,3 4, 500 baht per copy, and copy machines and service centers are located at various points of "convenience" for mass copying. Indexes are rarely copied and copies are always black and white, so colored graphics are rendered useless as a teaching tool. Even teachers are often provided with a copy to teach. These universities also generally have bookstores, but the bookstores get barely a fraction of the activity of the illegal copy service centers staffed by university employees.

Thailand has a major issue with illegal copying, reselling , and promoting through the use of illegally obtained intellectual property. This announcement that Thailand is "declaring war" on piracy, intellectual property is merely frivolous showboating in typical insincere duplicitous Thai style. Thai newspapers and media should take note of this illegal copying issue and take up the mantra to campaign against it. Copy educational material and textbooks illegally is a disgrace and it is rampant in Thailand at all levels including university and post graduate. It is an outrage and far surpasses the action of petty thieves bootlegging a Lady Gaga cd.

The type of educational copying you talk about i'd actually support. It means that people can learn without having to pay 100 dollars for a single book, and who knows what type of deals went on to get those books in the classroom. Historically, I have noticed they overcharge for some of these books, and now things are changing for the better. They had their time of obscene profits, and I personally don't want to hear any boohooing. People can think what they want, but like most things copying of intellectual property isn't always bad.

[Jawnie]

Linking IP theft in Thailand to a few streetside stalls on Sukhumvit road / Silom is crazy. This has pretty much nothing to do with it.

They're talking about factories producing counterfeit goods on an industrial scale. Think of large factories employing hundreds of people.

Do people really think a country gets put on a 'watch list' by the USA due to some street markets selling fake DVD's, watches and handbags ?

You make a good point about this. However, because of the veracity and aggression with which the film and software industries pursue piracy, I certainly do believe the many software piracy shops around Thailand alone could, by force of those US industries, end up on the US gov't watch list.