Skull and Crossbones

Skull and Crossbones:
When discussing the current state of intellectual property woes in China, you don’t hear a whole lot of moaning from the Chinese about how the Europeans stole the secret to porcelain manufacturing as a rationale for why China blithely copies DVDs, Armani suits, and top-of-the-line semiconductor chips. In fact, you are more likely to hear the current manufacturers of Chinese Jingdezhen porcelain complaining about other Chinese who are ripping off their designs, domestically. Still, contemporary observers of the Chinese economy would do well to recall the troubled history of Chinese relations with the West. For as long as it was able, the West took what it wanted from China. If China resisted, the West brought in the artillery.
The bigger problem however, is not about how unfair western demands on IP piracy reforms might seem but rather the effect of piracy on the Chinese domestic movie, music, fashion and software industry. A young, creative artist in China has almost no chance of success because as soon as his work becomes popular it’s pirated. This then is perhaps one of the best reasons why China should crackdown on piracy. I’d bet that…back in the day when Europeans were “stealing” Chinese porcelain secrets they sure as hell weren’t stealing each others secrets with as equal aggressiveness.
A twisted tale of Chinese porcelain