Thread: Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Wa

Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online

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By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: July 18, 2006

HONG KONG, July 16 — Movie and song copiers beware: use an Internet discussion site in Hong Kong to violate copyrights and you may be turned in to law enforcement authorities by an 11-year-old Boy Scout.
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Keith Bradsher/The New York Times

Young people of the Hong Kong Civil Aid Service search the Internet.

Starting this summer the Hong Kong government plans to have 200,000 youths search Internet discussion sites for illegal copies of copyrighted songs and movies, and report them to the authorities. The campaign has delighted the entertainment industry, but prompted misgivings among some civil liberties advocates.

The so-called Youth Ambassadors campaign will start on Wednesday with 1,600 youths pledging their participation at a stadium in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars and several Hong Kong government ministers.

The Youth Ambassadors represent a new reliance on minors to keep order on the Internet. All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups here, ranging in age from 9 to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.

Tam Yiu-keung, the Hong Kong Excise and Customs Department’s senior superintendent of customs for intellectual property investigations, said the program should not raise any concerns about privacy or the role of children in law enforcement. The youths will be visiting Internet discussion sites that are open to all, so the government program is no different than asking young people to tell the police if they see a crime while walking down the street, he said.

Local news reports are unfair in suggesting that the government is recruiting young people to spy on others, Mr. Tam added. “We are not trying to manipulate youths and get them into the spy profession. What we are just trying to do is arouse a civic conscience to report crimes to the authorities.”

Unlike mainland China, which conducts periodic crackdowns on illegally copied movies at the insistence of Western countries, Hong Kong has a fairly good reputation for banning everything from counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags to pirated DVD’s. But the program is making some here nervous. Emily Lau, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said that the government should release more details of the program to the public for debate before proceeding, and should be particularly wary of having children report offenders to law enforcement.

“Public education I support, but to get young kids to do the reporting?” she said. “I feel uneasy about it.”

Christine Loh, the chief executive of Civic Exchange, a policy research group, said the government program would have to be managed with particular care because of its faint echoes of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, when children were encouraged to inform on their parents and other relatives.

Youths who participated in a pilot program this spring found another problem: some of their friends thought it was uncool. “They joke with me and ask, ‘Oooh, will you arrest me?’ ” said Hung Ming-Wai, 16.

In the hope of making the program cool, the government has arranged for Wednesday’s stadium ceremony to include Stephen Fung, a film director and actor, as well as four singers popular here: Gigi Leung, Niki Chow, Wilfred Lau and Alex Fong.

When youths report to the authorities that movies, songs, television programs or other copyrighted material is being made available through an Internet posting, customs officials will verify the posting and then relay it to trade groups like the Motion Picture Association or the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The associations and their members then send warning letters to the Web masters of the discussion forums, asking them to delete the offending posting; the customs officials keep secret which child has spotted which posting.

The 700 youths who participated in a pilot program this spring found 800 cases in which copyrighted material was being made available using BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing software. Follow-up investigations by customs officials identified the sources of most of these postings, which were from the United States, Australia, Europe, Taiwan and Europe, beyond the easy reach of Hong Kong customs investigators.

Mr. Tam said that Web masters have already deleted more than three-fifths of the offending postings, and there had been no sign that the postings were being replaced.

The customs agency here said it planned no action against people who download copyrighted material. “There’s no consensus at this moment among the general public” on how to handle such cases, Mr. Tam said

Hong Kong law prescribes criminal penalties for those who make copies of copyrighted materials available to others without permission, while specifying civil penalties for those who accept such copies. But the operation of BitTorrent complicates this distinction, as a user who downloads a song or movie may unintentionally pass segments of it on to other computer users.

Enforcement here has focused on those placing BitTorrent seeds, the computer links that make it possible to start the sharing of files.

The Hong Kong youth campaign covers a sixth of the territory’s youths ages 9 to 25 and is particularly aimed at teenagers. It is drawing international interest. Customs officials here have already been contacted by their counterparts in the United States, Macao and mainland China, and are ready to work with other jurisdictions to help set up similar programs, Mr. Tam said.

But Dean Boyd, a Homeland Security Department spokesman in Washington, said that the United States had no plans to introduce a similar program, partly because of liability concerns.

Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, said in an e-mail message that the group had no plans to ask scouts to report infringements to law enforcement officials.

By contrast, the Scout Association of Hong Kong has embraced cooperation with the government here as a way to teach good citizenship. Cub Scouts, ages 7 to 11, will not participate. But all Boy Scouts, ages 11 to 20, will be expected to use the system, in which youths use a password-protected Web site to report offending postings that they spot on the Internet, said Lee Tsz-yiu, the assistant scout headquarters commissioner overseeing the program.

Educating youths to respect copyrights is a central goal of the program, officials said. “Let’s face it: a lot of Internet piracy is done by young people, particularly in their teens, and the difficulty is it’s almost becoming a fashion to download music, download video,” said Joseph Wong, Hong Kong’s secretary of commerce, industry and technology.

The program may work better here than it would elsewhere, local officials suggest. Hong Kong teenagers are surprisingly obedient, possibly because of a Confucian tradition and very strong social pressures to study hard and serve the community.

But the effectiveness of the program may depend partly on the efficiency of the participants. Au Yeung Ka-ho, a 17-year-old senior cadet in the Civil Aid Service, a local youth group, said that he had seen more copyrighted material being made available with BitTorrent during the pilot program than he actually reported to the government.

“Sometimes I found the Bit Torrent seeds, but it was too late and my parents urged me to go to bed,” he said. “By morning I had forgotten the Web links and could not go back.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/arts/ ... 54&ei=5070

Hong Kong enlists youth to fight piracy
By Keith Bradsher The New York Times

Published: July 18, 2006
HONG KONG Movie and song copiers, beware: use an Internet discussion site in Hong Kong to violate copyrights, and you may be turned in to law enforcement authorities by an 11-year-old Boy Scout.

Starting this summer, the Hong Kong government plans to have 200,000 youths search discussion sites for illegal copies of copyrighted songs and movies and report them to the authorities. The campaign has delighted the entertainment industry but prompted misgivings among some civil liberties advocates.

The so-called Youth Ambassadors campaign will start Wednesday with 1,600 young people pledging their participation at a stadium in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars and several government ministers.

The Youth Ambassadors represent a new reliance on minors to keep order on the Internet. All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups here, ranging in age from 9 to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.

Tam Yiu-keung, the Hong Kong Excise and Customs Department's senior superintendent for intellectual property investigations, said the program should not raise concerns about privacy or the role of children in law enforcement. The youths will visit Internet discussion sites that are open to all, he said, so the program is no different from asking young people to tell the police if they see a crime on the street.

"We are not trying to manipulate youths and get them into the spy profession," Tam said. "What we are just trying to do is arouse a civic conscience to report crimes to the authorities."

But the program is making some nervous. Emily Lau, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said the government should release more details to the public for debate before proceeding and should be particularly wary of having children report offenders to law enforcement.

Christine Loh, the chief executive of Civic Exchange, a policy research group, said the program would have to be managed with care because it echoed the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, during which children were encouraged to inform on their parents and other relatives.

Youths who participated in a pilot program this spring found another problem: some of their friends thought it was uncool. "They joke with me and ask, 'Oooh, will you arrest me?'" said Hung Ming-wai, 16.

In the hope of broadening the program's appeal, the government has arranged for Wednesday's ceremony to include Stephen Fung, a film director and actor, as well as four popular singers: Gigi Leung, Niki Chow, Wilfred Lau and Alex Fong.

When youths report to the authorities that movies, songs or other copyrighted material are being made available through an Internet posting, customs officials will verify the posting and relay it to trade groups like the Motion Picture Association or the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The associations then send warning letters to the Web masters of the discussion forums asking them to delete the offending posting; the customs officials keep secret which child has spotted which posting.

Educating youths to respect copyrights is a central goal of the program, officials said. "A lot of Internet piracy is done by young people, particularly in their teens, and the difficulty is it's almost becoming a fashion to download music, download video," said Joseph Wong, the Hong Kong secretary of commerce, industry and technology.

The 700 youths who participated in a pilot program this spring found 800 cases in which copyrighted material had been made available using BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing software. Follow-up investigations by customs officials identified the sources of most of these postings, which were from the United States, Australia, Europe, Taiwan and Europe, beyond the easy reach of Hong Kong investigators.

Tam said that Web masters had already deleted more than 60 percent of the offending postings and that there had been no sign that the postings were being replaced.

The customs agency said it planned no action against people who download copyrighted material. "There's no consensus at this moment among the general public" on how to handle such cases, Tam said.


HONG KONG Movie and song copiers, beware: use an Internet discussion site in Hong Kong to violate copyrights, and you may be turned in to law enforcement authorities by an 11-year-old Boy Scout.

Starting this summer, the Hong Kong government plans to have 200,000 youths search discussion sites for illegal copies of copyrighted songs and movies and report them to the authorities. The campaign has delighted the entertainment industry but prompted misgivings among some civil liberties advocates.

The so-called Youth Ambassadors campaign will start Wednesday with 1,600 young people pledging their participation at a stadium in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars and several government ministers.

The Youth Ambassadors represent a new reliance on minors to keep order on the Internet. All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups here, ranging in age from 9 to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.

Tam Yiu-keung, the Hong Kong Excise and Customs Department's senior superintendent for intellectual property investigations, said the program should not raise concerns about privacy or the role of children in law enforcement. The youths will visit Internet discussion sites that are open to all, he said, so the program is no different from asking young people to tell the police if they see a crime on the street.

"We are not trying to manipulate youths and get them into the spy profession," Tam said. "What we are just trying to do is arouse a civic conscience to report crimes to the authorities."

But the program is making some nervous. Emily Lau, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said the government should release more details to the public for debate before proceeding and should be particularly wary of having children report offenders to law enforcement.

Christine Loh, the chief executive of Civic Exchange, a policy research group, said the program would have to be managed with care because it echoed the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, during which children were encouraged to inform on their parents and other relatives.

Youths who participated in a pilot program this spring found another problem: some of their friends thought it was uncool. "They joke with me and ask, 'Oooh, will you arrest me?'" said Hung Ming-wai, 16.

In the hope of broadening the program's appeal, the government has arranged for Wednesday's ceremony to include Stephen Fung, a film director and actor, as well as four popular singers: Gigi Leung, Niki Chow, Wilfred Lau and Alex Fong.

When youths report to the authorities that movies, songs or other copyrighted material are being made available through an Internet posting, customs officials will verify the posting and relay it to trade groups like the Motion Picture Association or the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The associations then send warning letters to the Web masters of the discussion forums asking them to delete the offending posting; the customs officials keep secret which child has spotted which posting.

Educating youths to respect copyrights is a central goal of the program, officials said. "A lot of Internet piracy is done by young people, particularly in their teens, and the difficulty is it's almost becoming a fashion to download music, download video," said Joseph Wong, the Hong Kong secretary of commerce, industry and technology.

The 700 youths who participated in a pilot program this spring found 800 cases in which copyrighted material had been made available using BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing software. Follow-up investigations by customs officials identified the sources of most of these postings, which were from the United States, Australia, Europe, Taiwan and Europe, beyond the easy reach of Hong Kong investigators.

Tam said that Web masters had already deleted more than 60 percent of the offending postings and that there had been no sign that the postings were being replaced.

The customs agency said it planned no action against people who download copyrighted material. "There's no consensus at this moment among the general public" on how to handle such cases, Tam said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/18/ ... piracy.php

HONG KONG: Youngsters to help fight online piracy

Youth Ambassadors campaign of 1,600 young people reports illegal copies of copyrighted songs, movies to authorities

Straits Times
Thursday, July 20, 2006

Hong Kong --- Movie and song copiers, beware: If you use a Hong Kong Internet discussion site to violate copyright, you may be turned in to the law by an 11-year-old Boy Scout.

The Hong Kong government plans to have 200,000 youths search discussion sites for illegal copies of copyrighted songs and movies and report them to the authorities.

The Youth Ambassadors campaign started yesterday with 1,600 young people pledging their participation in front of leading Hong Kong film and singing stars and government ministers.

All members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and nine other uniformed youth groups, ranging in age from nine to 25, will be expected to participate, government officials said.

Mr Tam Yiu Keung, the Hong Kong Excise and Customs Department's senior superintendent for intellectual property investigations, said the youths will visit Internet discussion sites that are open to all.

"We are not trying to manipulate youths and get them into the spy profession," he added.

While the campaign has delighted the entertainment industry, it has prompted misgivings among some civil liberties advocates.

Ms Christine Loh, the chief executive of Civic Exchange -- a policy research group -- said the scheme would have to be managed with care because it echoed the Cultural Revolution in China, during which children were encouraged to inform on their parents and other relatives.

Youths who participated in a pilot programme earlier this year found another problem: some of their friends thought it was uncool.

"They joke with me and ask, 'Oooh, will you arrest me?'," said 16-year-old Hung Ming Wai.

When youths report to the authorities that movies, songs or other copyrighted material are being made available through an Internet posting, Customs officials will verify the posting and relay it to trade groups like the Motion Picture Association or the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

The associations then send warning letters to the webmasters of the forums asking them to delete the offending posting.

The agency said it planned no action against people who download copyrighted material. "There's no consensus...among the general public" on how to handle such cases, Mr Tam said.

Date Posted: 7/20/2006

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.a ... ntid=49470