VZCZCXRO1710
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHVC
DE RUEHHK #0868/01 1320413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120413Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7587
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

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