China's Official Newspaper Pans iPad — Too Locked Down 319
An anonymous reader writes "The People's Daily newspaper, which is the official news organ of the ruling Communist party in China, apparently recently posted a review of the iPad, where it complained about the locked down nature of the device, noting that 'There are many disadvantages. For example you cannot install pirate software on them, you cannot download [free] music, and you need to pay for movies you watch on them.' You would think a country that is in favor of locking down the internet so much would like a locked up device ..."
PwnageTool (Score:2, Insightful)
http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com/tag/pwnagetool/ [iphonedownloadblog.com]
Really? Your country spends so much effort pirating even physical cars, factories, etc, you can't be bothered to run a jailbreak?
The answer is, of course... (Score:4, Insightful)
No, they wouldn't (Score:1, Insightful)
You would think a country that is in favor of locking down the internet so much would like a locked up device
It depends, as it always does, on who holds the key to the lock.
It's about who does the locking (Score:5, Insightful)
The Chinese government likes lockdown only as long as they're the ones doing the locking. Once someone else is in control, it interferes with their own power.
Catholic Church is a good example. A variant of it can exist in China on the condition that it dissociates itself from the Pope, so it is not controlled by a foreign entity. Chinese don't like lockdown and censorship, they like a monopoly of power and influence on the public. Once you think about it, that's also what many of the Western leaders want, but don't have the means necessary to get it.
Re:not surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
China isn't bowing to the current Imaginary Property system because it only hurts them, just as they resisted Britain's attempts to get them all hooked on Opium in the 19th century.
The USA did the exact same thing in the early stages of its rise to power, ignoring the Imaginary Property of European countries.
Re:The answer is, of course... (Score:2, Insightful)
"You're right that Baidu probably beat Google by offering free searches for piracy sites. If you stop with the copyright maximalist viewpoint for a minute, that's exactly what you'd expect in a free-market situation."
This has nothing to do with a free-market. A free market says you have the choice to either make something or not make something, and also, the choice to purchase something or not purchase something. Doesn't say anything about the right to steal something, or in the case of Baidu, aid you in stealing something.
What if Baidu helped me find all your bank account numbers and I "downloaded" all your money? How would you feel about their service then?
Re:not surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
In a sense you are right. Intellectual property is important to advanced economies which primarily rely on innovation in order to grow. It is less important to countries whose economy is based on plentiful supply of humans who can cheaply and mindlessly stamp out parts for products that other countries invent. China is still a primitive country by Western/Japanese standards with per capita GDP 1/13th that of the USA. It is still desperately trying to catch up. This is because being a production hub for foreign companies will only take you so far, the next step is for Chinese home-grown companies to begin to flourish and produce original innovative technology and that's when China will also start caring about intellectual property.
Re:The answer is, of course... (Score:3, Insightful)
don't have to pay (Score:1, Insightful)
You don't have to pay, or even hack or anything to watch movies or listen to music that you didn't get through the itunes store. Just needs to be in you itunes library duh... China doesn't like stuff locked down because they are the kings of piracy, they have no respect for intellectual property. They sell clones, copies of everything American. Not just stealing, but SELLING what they have stolen. So you are siding with China? Typical slashdot pro-piracy.
NO history of civil code in China (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The answer is, of course... (Score:3, Insightful)
u don't have a god given right to make money off of something you do, the people decide when, where and why you get to make that money.
You also don't have a god given right to clean air, water, and food free of rat feces.
The people (ie: society) gives us those rights through government.
Re:The answer is, of course... (Score:5, Insightful)
Go down to the local FBI office lobby, light up a doobie, and then tell me our government doesn't try to dictate the choices their citizens get to engage in...
Re:NO history of civil code in China (Score:2, Insightful)
"and the person with the most personal and networked power would win"
I found this line interesting when taken out of context and applied toward understanding human evolution/survival of the fittest in general.
Re:NO history of civil code in China (Score:5, Insightful)
In theory, the coin has an equal chance of coming up heads and tails. In practice, it might not work like it's supposed to.
A bit like the Chinese legal system.
Re:apple blocked software that China GOV made (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah. Tag this story "irony".
But I think what China is really saying here is this:
There's nothing wrong with locked down, as long as we hold the keys.
In this case, Steve Jobs & Co. hold the keys, therefore it sucks.
Re:The answer is, of course... (Score:4, Insightful)
China is in the midst of its industrial revolution.
You say that our own industrial revolution is irrelevant. I don't think so and obviously the Chinese don't think so either. What you or I say is irrelevant to them, and if the Chinese started dictating to the US what we should do, you'd be telling them to piss off too.
Shoe, meet other foot.
--
BMO
China is the new Arabs (Score:5, Insightful)
I have been looking back at my posting history on Slashdot and noticed a trend. I have been more and more "defending" if you can call it that, China here. I then realized that, China is now the fashionable country to hate by many Westerners, mainly Americans, usurping Arabs and Muslims and possibly even the Iranians (who are not Arabs, despite what many bigots here like to say). Being a Muslim myself and weathering through horrible post-September 11 outright bigotry and hatred has made me more alert. All the classic signs are here in this thread. You know, the "they're stealing our jobs/innovations/money/women", "their culture is a debased/derivative of our own superior culture", "they have {insert negative racial trait} while we don't. I am also surprised to see about half of Slashdot suddenly turning into RIAA spokespersons about piracy in China when usually it's fuck the RIAA!. I guess it's "their piracy is inferior to our piracy" thing. More disturbingly, further down the thread someone tried to find the purported original article and couldn't find it, possibly making this story a racist smear campaign as well. There is even the "White man's burden" argument where China's human rights record had something to do with pirating the latest movies (the irony here is that Chinese citizens can freely copy any movie they like while you couldn't). Guess, even among geeks there are hypocrites, racists and bigots.
Re:The answer is, of course... (Score:1, Insightful)
Intellectual Property is an illusion. You can't claim ownership over ideas no matter how many laws you make. People are always going to take someone else's Idea, change it, use it, make it better, what ever, get over it.
Property rights are an illusion. You can't claim ownership over material objects no matter how many laws you make. People are always going to take someone else's property, change it, use it, make it better, what ever, get over it.
Re:NO history of civil code in China (Score:1, Insightful)
They think one should have easy/free access to a neighbor's (or a company's) IP, and that all control over a population should emanate from the center.
This is going to create a pretty big problem for the US as China transitions from developing to developed, actually. The trouble with IP in general is that it has a universality defect: If it isn't enforceable everywhere then the places where it is enforceable end up subsidizing the places where it isn't. So the US ends up subsidizing China. We pay to develop tons of interesting technology, then file patent applications which get published and which anybody in China can use to implement the technology without paying anything, while other US companies have the disadvantage of having to pay.
And the problem is, the only way for the US to fix it (since China is never going to actually enforce US IP against Chinese companies, even when they say they will) is for the US to "reciprocate" by not enforcing US IP against US companies. (Not enforcing Chinese IP against US companies wouldn't be worth a damn because there isn't much.)
Re:China is the new Arabs (Score:2, Insightful)
While I appreciate an Arab friend defending my country, I think to say "China is now the fashionable country to hate" is too much of an exaggeration. A few years ago I had to bring up Charles Dickens to remind Americans of some of their lesser known history, now you can see many posters here are aware of that instance and seem to understand China more.
"they're stealing our jobs/innovations/money"
I actually think piracy is the new opium to us. I think we are clever enough to be able to create our own software industry. Piracy kills our own innovations too and poisons people's mind, because they can steal things and get away with it.
"their culture is a debased/derivative of our own superior culture"
That's kinda puzzling. What I've heard most often is the two cultures are very different and no one seems to say one is derived from another.
P.S. post as AC for I moderated.
Re:apple blocked software that China GOV made (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps it has something to do with lower wages and greater acceptance of pirate/fake goods in China. Compared to a Chinese company's iPad clone that comes with loads of free/pirate software and costs 1/5th as much the iPad doesn't look so good once you remove the stigma of piracy and cheaper Chinese goods.
Re:apple blocked software that China GOV made (Score:3, Insightful)
Precisely. That's the same way I see the iPad and similar devices.
If I bought it, I own it, therefore any keys to be had must be mine. Anything else is unacceptable.