Peanuts
£102,000? A mere drop in the ocean that certainly won't give anyone at Apple sleepless nights!
Apple got a nasty post-Christmas present in China on Thursday when a Beijing court hit it with a 1.03m yuan (£102,000) fine after ruling the fruity tech titan was responsible for applications which appeared on its App Store containing unlicensed content. The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court concluded that Apple had …
It is financially, but there are many like me who would just like to add their voice to the good chuckle everyone is having at the fanbois embarrassment - yet another in the avalanche set to grow throughout 2013 as more and more of their desperate patents get overturned.
Chip chip chip till the damn bursts, I reckon. It's a smart move - go back to the original patents one by one to get them struck off, then the subsequent court cases are a no brainer to overturn: Apples worst nightmare, in effect, just at the time it's plumb out of innovation and the courts take a dump on any of their future trivial round corner jokes.
Only when someone steals the logo or name ... that Apple stole from others!
Or if someone tries to use their software in non-Apple hardware.
Otherwise Apple doesn't give a damn although it is busy filing prior art patents which, in a way, is like stealing copyright from others.
This:
A spokeswoman for Apple told the BBC that the company takes "copyright infringement complaints very seriously".
"We're always updating our service to better assist content owners in protecting their rights," she added.
sounds like bullshit speak to me.
Hey el Reg, how about a bullshit icon?? Please??
"Just ask Apple for the account details of these people, and away you go."
You really expect that to work without a year of legal wrangling? I know it's China but I don't imagine Apple just coughs up account details at every drop of the hat. Maybe Apple does hand out information that isn't listed on the store's app page but if they do it's a bit disturbing that any Tom, Dick or Mary can get any info they want about any developer, corporate or individual, in the app store.
here, not hard.
Apple are publishing the content, which HAS to be vetted (so cannot claim it's an un-moderated site).
Apple are making profits from above copyright theft.
It had been notified of the infringement, but did nothing.
Therefore Apple are responsible for what happens in their app store, but choose to put profits before responsibility.
Bit like driving the getaway car in a bank robbery, but claiming you didn't actually steal any money, so your innocent and you should go after the ones with guns.
China has no tradition of copyright censorship. Rather, they had a tradition of state subsidy for supported writers (and a very low literacy rate, restricted to the civil-service management class)
However, like all countries without a copyright censorship tradition (the obvious example is the USA), they have to consider if the value of copyright control balances the cost of copyright control. China considers that they are at that balance point, and have been gradually growing support for copyright control. As in AUS (and I assume everywhere), that has meant substantial restatement of their IPO laws to conform to treaty obligations, including the Customs Law (January 2001), the Regulations on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (January 2004) and the Rules for Implementing the Regulations on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (July 2004).
Another interesting example is PNG. Even though PNG passed a copyright law in 1978, it was not brought into force. After considerable discussion over 20 years, PNG brought in new laws in 2000. As John Nonggorr wrote in 1995:
"if Papua New Guinea wants its copyright material (books, music, etc) produced by Papua New Guineans to be protected in [other countries] ..., it must join an international scheme providing such protection"
The Chinese rip off everyone. But since they are the worlds industrial powerhouse, they are above the laws in a way that make the corporations around the world very jealous.
When is the last time a Chinese court EVER made a big judgment AGAINST a Chinese company?
Given the unfair and unbalanced news reporting against the ordinary chinese people from the western media, and above all the aloof attitude arrogance from Apple towards the East, It's only deserving that Apple receive a taste of their own medicine.
Afterall, the ordinary chinese folks have suffered much from their own government as well as the "put-downs" from the Amercian "I dont care less about you" except profits. - Its really sweet that justice plays a hand.
There is much more to it than just whats reported with regards to Copyright and Apple from a chinese perspective. At least the east's economy will improve ahead of the west slowly but surely.