It's pretty much common knowledge around here that piracy of intellectual property and branded merchadise is both light industry and grey market in china, right? If not, check out this article over at Salon. The writer is very pleased with hir ability to generate evocative methaphors and repeat hirself, but it's got some names and places and other useful information.
The article provides some international trade-related links so you can get your head around who makes the rules and who follows them. Local economies in china are sometimes bolstered by pirates, and factories remain open with the knowledge and consent of local authorities. Laws are infrequently and inconsitently enforced, and it looks like the small-time retailer gets hit hardest and most often. One distributor says "It beats manual labor," even after three jail terms.
Anyway, Barbelith has a long tradition of letting itellectual property issues go unargued (with one notable exception). After reading this, I wondered again what y'all thought. Do you have an opinion? What informs it? Is piracy an act of civil disobedience against Capital, an authentic antagonist, or simply illegal (like murder) and therefore unconscionable?
And hey, Pirates. |
