China has revoked 368 business licenses for audiovisual products
in its campaign against piracy since mid July.
Ninety-nine of the licenses revoked belonged to companies based
in northeast China's Jilin Province and 74 were from central
China's Henan Province, the National Anti-Pornography
and Anti-Piracy Office announced on Sunday.
Even in the less developed Qinghai Province, nine business licenses were
withdrawn, the office said.
A company is not allowed to engage in the publication,
manufacturing and distribution of audiovisual products without a
business license.
As part of the 100-day intensive crackdown on piracy, China has
also destroyed nearly 13 million pirated CDs, DVDs and computer
software since July.
Police and copyright officials have raided more than 537,000
publication markets, shops, street vendors and distribution
companies, and closed down 8,907 shops and street vendors, 481
publishing companies and 942 illegal websites in two months.
The 100-day campaign, which started on July 15, was jointly
launched by 10 ministries and national departments, including the
Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration of Press and
Publication, the National Copyright Administration and the Ministry
of Culture.
The campaign is said to be unprecedented in terms of its
duration and number of government departments involved.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2006)