Cablegate: Taiwan Ipr: Campus Enforcement Improves, Moe Action Plan

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 000017

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USDOC FOR 4430/ITA/MAC/AP/OPB/TAIWAN
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON KIPR ETRD PGOV TW
SUBJECT: Taiwan IPR: Campus Enforcement Improves, MOE Action Plan
to Continue

REFTELS:

A) 2001 Taipei 1681
B) 2004 Taipei 533
C) 2006 Taipei 562
D) 2006 Taipei 4007
E) 2004 Taipei 3953
F) 2007 Taipei 2529
G) 2007 Taipei 2595
H) 2008 Taipei 1655
I) 2008 Taipei 8
J) 2008 Taipei 49
K) 2008 Taipei 1318
L) 2008 Taipei 745
M) 2007 Taipei 2005

Summary
-------

1. (SBU) The Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) will indefinitely
continue its Campus Intellectual Property (IP) Action Plan. The
Plan's requirements and incentives are spurring schools to increase
enforcement efforts, and the MOE is helping schools to implement
best practices across Taiwan. Rightsholders report infringement on
the pan-island university intranet, the Taiwan Academic Network
(TANet), is down from 2008, and confirm the MOE continues to
cooperate in tracking and punishing unauthorized file-sharing.
Rightsholder groups, however, still report widespread use of pirated
or unlicensed software. Although on-campus textbook copying and
other physical infringement appear to have continued their
decade-long decline, rightsholders report widespread off-campus
textbook piracy. End summary.

Background
----------

2. (SBU) Taiwan's teachers and administrators have traditionally
viewed campuses as havens from normal law enforcement. Universities
rarely refer students to the police or prosecutors' offices for
non-violent crimes, including intellectual property rights (IPR)
violations, and prosecutors are wary of taking action against such
problems. The last major crack-down on campus piracy--an attempt in
2001 by the Tainan District Prosecutors Office to prosecute 14
students at National Chengkung University for sharing MP3 files (ref
A)--set off a strong reaction from administrators, students, and the
Taiwan public, and led to the reassignment of the prosecutors
involved. Unauthorized textbook copying and digital piracy,
therefore, remained common on Taiwan's campuses (refs B, C, D, and
E).

3. (SBU) After an initial suggestion from the United States led to
several rounds of consultations with campus representatives, the MOE
initiated the Campus IP Action Plan in early 2007, and began
implementing the Plan in November of that year (ref F). Under the
Plan, the MOE has introduced new IPR-related requirements and
targets for Taiwan universities, and publicly grades each
university's performance on numerous metrics in order to promote
best practices and shame less successful schools into taking more
action.

4. (SBU) The Plan--originally intended to run for three years
through the end of 2009--led universities to take tangible steps to
deal more seriously with IPR (refs G and H). The MOE, therefore,
encouraged by schools' improvements under the Plan, and spurred by
continual U.S. engagement, decided in November 2009 to continue the
Plan indefinitely.

Rightsholders Pleased with MOE Cooperation
------------------------------------------

5. (SBU) During the Plan's first year, rightsholder groups,
including the Taiwan Book Publishers' Association (TBPA), the
Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Recording Industry Foundation
in Taiwan (RIT, formerly the Taiwan International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry), and the Taiwan Foundation Against Copyright
Theft (TFACT), complained the MOE did not meet regularly with
rights- holders, did not seem interested in cooperating closely with
them in implementing the Plan (refs I, J), and did not respond in
detail to rights-holder reports on possible copyright violations on
TANet (ref K).

6. (SBU) However, MOE-industry cooperation improved during the
plan's second year (ref H), and representatives from all four major

TAIPEI 00000017 002 OF 003

rightsholder groups tell us that smooth communication and
cooperation with the MOE continued over 2009. BSA Taiwan head Gina
Tsai recently told econoff that BSA's Singapore-based regional
management is pleased with the results of the MOE's Action Plan, and
has been impressed by participating universities' IP enforcement
improvements under the Plan. Tsai noted that the Plan is working
much better now than it was two years ago, and said BSA is urging
MOE to shift its focus from IP enforcement to helping university
administrators, professors, and students understand how to protect
their own intellectual property.

Digital Piracy Down on TANet
----------------------------

7. (SBU) University administrators tell us that the MOE Computer
Center regularly gives them industry requests to remover violating
material from TANet. BSA's Tsai, RIT CEO Robin Lee, and TFACT head
Spencer Yang confirm that the MOE responds quickly to rightsholder
requests to remove violating material from TANet. Industry groups
also confirm that MOE reports to rightsholder groups every six to
eight weeks about TANet infringements complaints(ref L).

8. (SBU) University administrators and rightsholder groups tell us
that, although unauthorized file sharing and other digital piracy
continues on TANet, MOE's actions have reduced TANet infringements.
According to BSA Taiwan's Stella Lai, over the first ten months of
2009, BSA sent 25-30 takedown notices per month to the MOE about
possible infringing incidents on TANet, down from 50 per month in
2008. RIT's Lee recently told econoff that RIT sent 125 takedown
notices to TANet administrators in 2008, but is only on pace to send
36 in 2009, a 71-percent decline.

9. (SBU) This drop in suspected cases of infringement on TANet
contrasts well with the overall internet infringement situation:
RIT has sent 2.4 percent more takedown notices to ISPs this year
compared with 2008, and BSA has not seen any drop-off in the number
of takedown notices sent through Taiwan ISPs to suspected users of
unlicensed software.

P2P Ban Extended
----------------

10. (SBU) In late November 2008, the MOE banned the use of
peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software on TANet. According to
RIT's Lee, although universities have, in response to the MOE's
directive, adopted measures to block access to unauthorized P2P
software, RIT stills uncovers cases of illegal P2P file-sharing on
TANet. In addition, many universities in Taiwan have begun to
contract out student dormitory internet service to commercial ISPs
in order to preserve TANet bandwidth, a change that allows students
to circumvent TANet P2P restrictions. In response to rightsholder
complaints about on-campus commercial ISPs, during the latest Campus
IP Action Plan taskforce meeting held on November 27, 2009, the MOE
agreed to add a regulation banning the use of P2P software on
commercial ISPs in university dormitories.

11. (SBU) This ban, however, may not be enforceable in all cases. On
December 29, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Intellectual
Property Office (TIPO) Deputy Director General Margaret Chen told
econoff that many universities have signed contracts with private
ISPs to provide internet service in dormitories and other locations
on campus. In such cases, the universities have the right to
restrict users' access to P2P or other software applications. Chen
said, however, that on campuses where students individually sign up
and pay for internet service, Taiwan law would likely not allow
schools to prohibit use of P2P services.

Software Piracy Still a Problem
-------------------------------

12. (SBU) In contrast to the MOE's success in reducing violations on
TANet, industry still reports widespread use of unlicensed or
under-licensed software on Taiwan's campuses. On December 29, BSA's
Tsai told econoff the Ministry is "failing to deal with campus
software piracy." BSA member companies say through internet
monitoring, software sales, student enrollment figures, and
help-desk queries, the companies believe many universities either
buy too few licenses for the number of students who use the
software, or simply allow students to use pirated versions.

13. (SBU) Although some BSA member companies, such as Microsoft,
report that most copies of their software used on campuses in Taiwan
are legitimate, Tsai said the majority of companies report

TAIPEI 00000017 003 OF 003

widespread under-licensing of software. Although BSA does not think
the problem is any worse on campuses than it is among the general
population (ref H), they are frustrated that the Ministry of
Education is not more aggressive in dealing with the problem.

14. (SBU) BSA is also frustrated that the police--out of respect for
academic independence and fear of public backlash--will not go on
campuses to investigate, but will instead ask universities to take
action (ref H). According to Tsai, however, the problem with
enforcement on campuses is not just that police and prosecutors are
hesitant to enforce IP laws, but also that most BSA member companies
do not want to lose or alienate their customers--including future
customers--by taking legal action against students or schools.

Textbook Piracy Still Common
----------------------------

15. (SBU) Although a 2007 survey showed that roughly half of college
students still buy pirated versions of some books and supplementary
materials (ref M), administrators at universities econoff visited
during 2009 noted the problem of illegal textbook copying has almost
disappeared at on-campus copy shops. They also report off-campus
copy shops are either more reluctant to copy textbooks in whole or
in part, or have begun to refuse to copy more than a few pages of
any one book.

16. (SBU) The Taiwan Book Publishers' Association (TBPA), however,
continues to report to us that the situation has not improved, but
has merely gone underground. According to TBPA's Theresa Liu,
off-campus copy shops still take orders through on-campus
representatives and standing student relationships, then deliver
books directly to customers. Liu recently told econoff that some
off-campus copy shops are "quite powerful" politically, and TBPA is
therefore unable to convince prosecutors to authorize mid-semester
raids against the shops.

17. (SBU) TPBA does not have direct evidence to back up its claims
of widespread textbook piracy. Police copy-shop raids at the
beginning of the 2009 fall semester failed to turn up significant
amounts of violating materials. To bolster TBPA's claims about
rampant textbook piracy, the Association has asked Professor Hsieh
Ming-yang of National Chengchi University to undertake another
student survey to assess the scale of the piracy problem. Professor
Hsieh's study will finish in early 2010.

Comment
-------

18. (SBU) Taiwan's college campuses remain islands of laxer IPR
enforcement in an improving IP environment. However, as
rights-holders regularly point out to us, Taiwan's students are in
most respects no worse than their peers in other developed
economies. Although U.S. pressure initially spurred the MOE to
launch the Campus IP Action Plan, the Ministry and Taiwan's schools
have embraced the Plan, and related industry groups are pleased with
Taiwan's actions against TANet piracy. Continued
progress--including enforcement of the internet service provider
(ISP)-related amendments to the Copyright Act--will be key to
further reducing digital piracy on Taiwan's campuses. End comment.

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