Anger over cyber controls

About 100 netizens (網民) took to the streets yesterday to protest against the government plan to amend the copyright law, saying it is trying to spread white terror (note 1).

 

The amendment is an attempt to kill Hongkongers creativity by bringing an end to parodies (滑稽性模仿詩文等作品) that have been very popular in the cyberworld, the protester said.

 

Carrying a blow-up doll with the face of lawmarker Chan Kam-lam, the chairman of the Bills Committee on Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2011, the group gathered at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, took a ferry to Wan Chai and marched (遊行) to the intellectual Property Department office. Cindy Ng Ka-sin, convener of organizer Keyboard Frontline, said the amendment is an attempt to crack down on (note 2) freedom of speech and to spread white terror.

 

She said derivative works (note 3), such as putting a politician’s face on a movie poster, are an expression of creativity and should not be banned.

 

Citing the case of Chan Nai-ming-who was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to three months in jail and fined HK$5,000 for uploading several films on the internet-Ng said the government already has the power to arrest copyright infringers (note 4) with the existing bill.

 

“We don’t see the need for such an amendment”, she said.  The government introduced the bill in June, under which anyone who distributes the work of others without their consent (note 5) using any kind of electronic transmission may face civil action.

 

In considering whether the infringement is criminal, several factors will be considered such as the nature of the work and its commercial value.

 

The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said the government will study whether to introduce an exception for derivative works.

 

(note 1) spread white terror=散發白色恐怖

a white day=吉日

a white night=不眠的一夜

as white as a sheet=(面色) 刷白

turn white=變蒼白

The White Terror=白色恐怖 (歷史; 指1975年保王黨員對革命黨的殘酷報復)

 

(note 2) crack down on=鎮壓

The crack of a whip=鞭聲

The crack of thunder=雷鳴

A crack on the head=頭上的一擊

 

(note 3) derivative works=由一份品衍生出的其他作品

Derivative=導出的, 延伸的

Derivatives=投資的衍生工具例如期權 (options) 和認股權證 (warrants)

 

(note 4) copyright infringers=侵犯版權者

Infringe=破壞 (法律等), ,侵犯 (權利等), 違返 (協定等)

 

(note 5) without their consent=未經成者同意

With one consent=異口同聲, 全體一致