Synopsis:
One of the biggest concerns companies may have is whether their intangible assets can be protected through enforceable patents, trademarks, and copyrights. This issue becomes more important and complicated in the context of international business, because countries are not the same in their protection of intellectual property rights. Weak enforcement may lead to the piracy of intellectual property.

This article describes video piracy in China. Because digital VCD copies are as good as the original, the pirates in China enjoyed a big business. Different devices such as DVD, SVCDS and VCDS were introduced later in the market. However, the pirates still remain as a winner, because the quality of films that were taken by shaky camcorders in cinema is pretty much the same and all the different devices can play VCDS.

Full-text Article: http://www.economist.com/editorial/justforyou/19991016/index_wb6324.html

Text connection:
Chapter 2 "National Differences in Political Economy" (pp.43-45).