2010-04-28

Schanghai versteckt Raubkopien im Vorfeld der Expo

In Schanghai verschwinden vor der Expo illegal kopierte DVD und CDs aus den Vorzimmern von Läden, meldet die New York Times:
The latest mystery in Shanghai, complete with sliding bookshelves, secret passageways and contraband goods, is this: Why are all the popular DVDs and CDs missing from this city’s shops? But it’s a mystery easily solved. In China, embarrassments are usually hidden from sight when the world comes visiting, and that is what has happened to a large supply of bootleg DVDs and CDs as Shanghai prepares for the World Expo, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors. A few weeks ago, government inspectors fanned out across the city and ordered shops selling pirated music and movies to stash away their illegal goods during the expo, a six-month extravaganza that opens May 1. But shop owners found a novel way to comply — they simply chopped their stores in half. In a remarkable display of uniformity, nearly every DVD shop in central Shanghai has built a partition that divides the store into two sections: one that sells legal DVDs (often films no one is interested in buying), and a hidden one that sells the illegal titles that everyone wants — Hollywood blockbusters like “Avatar” (for a dollar), Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and even Lady Gaga’s latest CD “The Fame.” Customers entering these shops are now routinely directed toward a slide-away bookshelf that reveals a secret corridor. And to chants of “movie inside, movie inside,” a young sales clerk will lead them past a series of empty spaces before entering a room stocked with thousands of bootleg copies of popular films, music and television programs. ... Intellectual property rights experts say they are outraged by what looks to be a sham crackdown. And the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents some of Hollywood’s biggest studios, calls the situation troubling. ... there is one development that may at least cut down on the sale of bootleg DVDs. Many young people say the search for pirated music and movies has moved online to countless Web sites that offer free downloads. “I don’t even buy DVDs anymore,” said Qi Wen, a 24-year-old travel agent. “I usually watch the movies online or download them to my computer; it’s fast and simple.”

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Peking will Staatsgeheimnisse stärker schützen

Peking will Staatsgeheimnisse noch geheimer halten als bisher. Hinter der Initiative könnte sich ein neuer Zensurvorstoß fürs Internet verbergen:
China is on the verge of requiring telecommunications companies and Internet service providers to halt and report leaks of what the government deems to be state secrets, the latest in a series of moves intended to strengthen the government’s control over private communications. The proposed amendment to the state secrets law, reported Tuesday by the state news media, defines a state secret broadly and loosely as information that, if disclosed, would damage China’s security or interests in political, economic, defense and other realms. The wording of the amendment, as cited by the state-controlled newspaper China Daily, suggested that Internet and telecommunications companies would have to take a more proactive stance in identifying leaks of state secrets and their sources. The paper said companies must detect, report and delete unauthorized disclosures. But reports by the state-run news agency Xinhua seemed less definitive about whether the companies must independently scour online transmissions for forbidden information or simply cooperate with the authorities if they suspect transgressions. According to Xinhua, when companies discover leaks, “information transmissions should be immediately stopped” and the authorities alerted.

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2010-04-26

VW investiert weiter massiv in China

Volkswegen buttert erneut viel Geld in den chinesischen Markt:
Weil der Automarkt in China unerwartet kräftig wächst, muss der größte europäische Autobauer Volkswagen seine Investitionen in dem Land um 1,6 Milliarden auf 6 Milliarden Euro anzuheben. Mit dem Geld will der Konzern seine führende Stellung in China verteidigen, wie der Autobauer am Montag in Wolfsburg mitteilte. ... Die 6 Milliarden Euro sollen laut VW in neue Modelle und weitere Produktionskapazitäten in China gesteckt werden. Finanziert werden die Summen allein durch Einnahmen in China. "Unser langfristiges Ziel, die Verdopplung unseres Absatzes auf zwei Millionen Fahrzeuge, werden wir planmäßig erreichen", sagte VW-China-Chef Winfried Vahland. ... VW will zudem ab 2013/2014 Elektroautos in China bauen.

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2010-04-10

China kopiert Transrapid

Das wird Siemens & Co. sicher nicht sonderlich freuen: Chinesische Ingenieure haben einen Transrapid im Eigenbau vorgestellt, meldet das Forum Magnetschwebebahn (International Maglev Board):
China's first independently built high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) train was formally unveiled on Thursday, April 8th, in Chengdu, capital city of southwestern Sichuan Province. The Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Company, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), handed over its first vehicle section to the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Company (SMTDC), the group that introduced the country's first high-speed commercial maglev train in 2002. ... In media reports, Wu Xiangming, Chief Engineer of SMTDC's Expert Group, said, "This is the first domestically designed and produced maglev train in China. We own the independent intellectual property rights." ... Further, Dai Ganchang, AVIC Engineer, said, "We had a deal with Germany. They introduced technology to us and we digested it. Currently, we only import some parts from Germany. The design and manufacturing are totally home-grown." ... From an International Maglevboard's perspective, this announcement signals a predictable shift in China's interests from simply being a user of foreign technology to becoming a manufacturer with unique and sellable know-how. Having apparently mastered the manufacturing and assembling of vehicles and many of their internal components, the next step is to gain the engineering expertise to reproduce the all-important levitation, guidance and propulsion functions.

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2010-04-07

GhostNet: Neue Details über chinesische Hacker

Meldungen über ein Update zum GhostNet machen derzeit etwa unter dem Titel "Chinesisches Schattenreich" die Runde:
Über ein gigantisches Spionagenetzwerk sind kriminelle Hacker weltweit in Regierungscomputer eingedrungen. Eine genaue Analyse von US-Forschern zeigt, wie sie dabei vorgingen. ... Im März 2009 entdeckten kanadische Forscher der Gruppe Information Warfare Monitor an der Universität von Toronto ein Spionagenetzwerk mit dem Namen GhostNet, das weltweit 1295 Rechner in 103 Staaten infiltriert hatte - unter anderem Computer in Botschaften und Außenministerien. Auch Rechner des Dalai Lama waren betroffen. Ein Jahr später hat das Team gemeinsam mit Experten der Shadowserver Stiftung eine Studie zum GhostNet vorgelegt. Aus dieser geht hervor, dass die Hacker inzwischen modernste Methoden benutzen - und ihre Spur in eine chinesische Stadt führt. Demnach lassen sich die Attacken nach Chengdu in Südwestchina zurückverfolgen. Opfer seien vor allem Indiens Regierung und Sicherheitsorgane sowie der das religiöse Oberhaupt der Tibeter, der Dalai Lama. Aus dem Bericht geht hervor, dass unter anderem 1500 E-Mails von 2009 aus dem Büro des Dalai Lama ausgekundschaftet worden seien.

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