HONG KONG GOVERNMENT SURVEYS HIGHLIGHT IPR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 000868

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EEB/OMA
DOC PASS AWILSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR HK CH
SUBJECT: HONG KONG GOVERNMENT SURVEYS HIGHLIGHT IPR
IMPROVEMENTS

REF: A. HONG KONG 754

B. HONG KONG 382


1. (U) Summary: The Hong Kong government's Intellectual
Property Department (IPD) recently announced survey results
indicating a high degree of intellectual property rights
(IPR) awareness among local businesses and the general
public. Only 8.5 percent of Hong Kong residents expressed
willingness to purchase pirated or counterfeit goods - the
lowest level since IPD's survey began in 1999 - but
challenges remain in the digital realm. Of Hong Kong
residents who use the Internet at least once per week, almost
79 percent said they will "probably not" or "definitely not"
legally purchase copyrighted content from authorized websites
during the coming year. Meanwhile, 94 percent of local
business establishments consider it "very" or "quite"
necessary to protect IPR in Hong Kong, and almost half of
Hong Kong's businesses are aware of new criminal penalties
for directors of companies that use pirated software. End
summary.


2. (SBU) Comment: IPD's latest survey results were
well-publicized through press conferences that enabled IPD to
further raise awareness about the importance of protecting
IPR. The department's multi-faceted IPR education and
protection efforts have reduced levels of IPR infringement
among local businesses and residents. While Hong Kong is in
many respects a world-class model for IPR protection
(especially with regard to youth education programs and
physical piracy enforcement efforts),at least two major
challenges remain. Business software piracy remains high,
compared with other developed economies in the region such as
Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. And Hong Kong still lacks
a legislative framework governing IPR protection in the
digital realm. We expect to see measurable progress in both
of these areas over the next 12-18 months, based on IPD's
proactive moves to address them (refs A and B).

Background
--------------


3. (U) IPD is responsible for promoting IPR protection
policies and practices in Hong Kong. The department has
surveyed the general public and local businesses every year
since 1999 and 2004, respectively, concerning IPR protection
behaviors, attitudes and opinions. IPD recently released the
results of its 2008 surveys.

General Public Survey Results
--------------


4. (U) IPD commissioned a local consulting firm, Mercado
Solutions Associates Ltd. (MSA),to conduct its 2008 IPR
survey of the Hong Kong general public. During November, MSA
interviewed 1,003 randomly selected individuals aged 15 and
above. Data collected from the survey were weighted to align
with relevant characteristics of Hong Kong's population (e.g.
age, sex, etc.),resulting in findings approximately
representative of the opinions of all Hong Kong residents.
The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.


5. (U) Almost all respondents (96.3 percent) considered it
necessary to protect IPR in Hong Kong. Only 8.6 percent of
respondents would often or sometimes buy pirated or
counterfeit goods, compared with 15.0 percent in 2005. The
primary reasons provided for purchasing infringing products
included: "genuine goods too expensive" (68.5 percent);
"personal greediness and lack of self discipline" (26.4
percent); and "unethical businessmen (i.e., the copyright
holders) reaping excessive profits" (19.6 percent).


6. (U) Despite the population's growing IPR awareness and
general unwillingness to purchase pirated or counterfeit
goods, the survey identified areas of concern in the digital
realm. Of the 63.9 percent of respondents who use the
Internet at least once per week, 78.6 percent said they will
"probably not" or "definitely not" purchase copyrighted
content from authorized websites during the coming year. Of
these respondents unwilling to purchase legitimate content
over the Internet, 47.0 percent considered Internet purchases
"too troublesome"; only 15.8 percent cited cost as the
primary factor. IPD Director Stephen Selby publicly
announced on April 7 that his department would use the survey
to "focus on new trends, including the downloading of files
from the Internet."


HONG KONG 00000868 002 OF 002



7. (U) Most respondents (56.1 percent) agreed that the IPR
protection measures imposed by the HKG over the past two
years reduced IPR infringement in Hong Kong. However, only
34.4 percent of respondents thought the HKG should play the
dominant role in controlling IPR infringements, compared with
47.1 percent in 2003. In 2008, 24.9 percent of survey
participants thought the general public should play the
dominant role, compared with 18.7 percent in 2003.

Business Survey Results
--------------


8. (U) MSA also conducted the IPD's 2008 IPR survey of Hong
Kong businesses. During November, MSA collected
questionnaires from 1,001 randomly selected businesses. Data
collected from the survey were weighted to align with
relevant characteristics of Hong Kong's business
establishment population (e.g. employee total, industry
sector, etc.),resulting in findings representative of the
opinions of all Hong Kong businesses. The survey's margin of
error is plus or minus 3.1 percent.


9. (U) Similar to results from prior years, 93.7 percent of
respondents considered it "very" or "quite" necessary to
protect IPR in Hong Kong. The majority of business
establishments responded that IPR protection helped enhance
the development of local creative industries (84.5 percent),
create business opportunity and wealth (77.6 percent),and
contribute to the overall development of Hong Kong's economy
(72.3 percent).


10. (U) Nearly half of the respondents (49.5 percent) were
aware of amendments to Hong Kong's Copyright Ordinance that
allow company directors to be held criminally liable, if
their firms use pirated software. Regarding the most
effective means to reduce IPR infringement in Hong Kong, the
top four suggestions were identical to previous survey
results: "lower price of genuine goods" (69.0 percent);
"raise awareness and strengthen education" (63.8 percent);
"increase penalties" (36.7 percent); and "full-scale
enforcement action against the sale of pirated and
counterfeit goods" (36.3 percent). As part of its efforts to
reduce business software piracy and raise IPR awareness, IPD
recently established a free intellectual capital management
consultancy service targeted at approximately 30,000 local
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
DONOVAN