VOA标准英语2009年-Software Piracy in Asia Expands

Photo: VOA photo - Pos Laput
A vendor¹ sells pirated DVDs in Vietnam

Despite some gains in fighting copyright infringement² in many countries, brazen³ piracy⁴ remains⁵ visible in Asia.

In a scene found in many Asian cities, pirated movies, music and software are sold openly in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

One study shows that in Vietnam, 85 percent of software is illegal. This shop owner sells unlicensed copies of movies and music on a street filled with pirated CD and DVD shops. "I don't display these DVDs here, just only when someone asks, then I'll bring them out," the owner said.

Merchants in this shopping mall in Thailand employ the same tactic⁶ to protect pirated stock from law enforcement raids. "Right now, they just have it in the car or van, [with] high-tech⁷ equipment that easily can produce fake copies of CD or DVD," one person said.

Darani Vachanavuttivong, an intellectual property rights lawyer, says counterfeiting⁹ is a multi-million dollar business in Thailand. "We would like to have the efficient law enforcer to cope with the counterfeit⁸ good and software piracy in Thailand," the lawyer said.

In Hong Kong, law enforcement has been key in reducing piracy.

"Five years ago, we were looking at piracy at the street level we were looking at the sale of optical discs from street vendors¹⁰. It was a very obvious problem," said Belinda Lui, who heads the Hong Kong office of the Business Software Alliance, a partnership¹¹ of multi-national software companies that helps battle piracy.

"Now, we are looking more at issues of end-user piracy; And what we mean by that is the use of illegal and unlicensed software within the business environment," she said.

The BSA reported that in 2008 piracy declined in Hong Kong and in more than 50 countries, including Brazil and India. However it is up worldwide and in Asia, driven, the report says, by economic growth - rising computer sales and access to faster Internet.

One man quit a piracy business in the Philippines that earned him $4,000 a month after authorities warned that registered computer shops faced huge fines for selling illegal software. "Computer shops that sell pirated software and games used to buy from us. After the OMB [Philippine Optical Media Board] and Business Software Alliance stuck warnings on their stores, they stopped selling pirated software and stopped buying from us," the man said.

Governments in Asia have gained some ground in the fight against copyright piracy. But with an expanding computer market consuming more cheap software, industry experts say piracy will continue to deny software designers billions of dollars in sales and governments millions in tax revenue.
 

1 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

2 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

3 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

4 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

7 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

8 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

9 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

10 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。