Washington D.C. is "upset" with China for counterfeiting & piracy issues?

"...counterfeiting and piracy remain at unacceptably high levels and
continue to cause serious harm to U.S. businesses across many sectors of
the economy,” 
Source: The Hill, 26 January, 2013

Does ANYONE is D.C. have a clue? Have they all become completely brainwashed by the so-called copyright enforcement industry "spin" on reality? Do they genuinely believe that the average Chinese on the street gives a %&$# for the financial impact of their actions on multi-billion dollar U.S businesses? 

Is it possible the root of the issue is that the powerful lobbyists for the video, music, & software industries are driving this attitude? Gee... You think?

I think we can all recognize that China has a completely different perspective on many accepted Western business concepts. Expecting the Chinese government (&/or people) to play the game by our rules is completely ego-centric & consistently doomed to failure.


For example: The current "developed countries" generation has been bombarded by the music, video, & software industries with "anti-piracy educational" materials nearly since birth. Industry agenda copyright education programs have been pushed on the young population for approximately 19 years. Bottom line impact? Zero... Scare tactics simply do not work. (But they're really great for generating all that free anti piracy publicity...)


If we want to reduce the breadth & depth of counterfeiting & copyright piracy - around the globe - we will only do so when we can present a viable alternative to "getting toys for free." And the problem isn't merely China. It's the entire structure of intellectual property marketing that is so antiquated. We "want" the world to buy our products, yet.we continue to price the products according to our own narrow profit expectations rather than the ability of the consumer to actually pay.


We, the developed nations of the planet, have completely forgotten how to price for sales. We continue to blindly push pricing for maximum profits instead of local potential. Guess what? If the majority of your prospects or customers cannot afford to legally purchase your products, the end result is rampant counterfeiting & piracy.


If you genuinely want to reduce music/video/software piracy &/or counterfeiting, find ways to demonstrate the business (or personal) value of the genuine products. As long as we continue to shape the message in terms of its impact on massive multinational western corporations, & not on the value driven to the individual, we will not "get through."


Hey, China... Here's a thought: you can download & use OpenOffice for free & it works just like that over-priced so-called world standard business productivity software. THAT will reduce at least one serious piracy issue.

Onerous tech agreements are killing your company

Beware: Many software licenses are DESIGNED to ensure you will violate the terms & conditions. Existing SAM certifications minimize this issue, apparently brushing off comprehensive license definitions; terms & conditions detailing; and document management as if these topics are virtually irrelevant.  This "partial" coverage gives you a false sense of security while leaving you defenseless.

Here's the thing: The agreements that legally bind your company to copyright protected products are carefully designed by well-paid lawyers representing the software industry players to ensure that you - the software consumer - have no rights while the software publisher retains all rights. On the flip side of the equation? The software publisher has none of the responsibilities and the software consumer has ALL of them.

Following is a brief video/audio example of the typical Warranty terms of a very common software product. As you listen, keep in mind that you are purchasing a business tool that could easily wipe out your company if it fails to deliver the value for which you purchased the product. Unfortunately, the Warranty clearly states that the product DOES NOT HAVE TO WORK.

You'll find the basic software Warranty slide deck (with sound) HERE.

The Institute for Technology Asset Management has identified over 42 distinct software license types - in the client-server environment alone. We've also disassembled several common licenses into individual terms & conditions to help practitioners better understand their relationships. Our object is to bring software asset management & compliance assurance training into the next generation of quality. When you genuinely understand the ROOT CAUSE of software licensing & compliance issues, you take the first major step in gaining maximum value with minimal risk from your software portfolio of goods, services, & contractual relationships.

Take a look at our Software &; Copyright Compliance Assurance (SCCA) and Software Asset Management (SAM) credential roadmaps. Merely click on the acronyms to download the PDF. Both programs are available as online, on-demand, professional development sessions.