Will China Play Nice?
Posted by Mark Nelson on 3rd May 2006 | Permanent Link
China produces DVD players at a prodigious rate, and they serve both a rapidly growing internal market and a voracious worldwide export market. They’ve never been happy about the patent royalties imposed on them for the MPEG-2 decoders that must go into those boxes, and in many cases, they have simply not paid them. According to the EE Times, there may be an accord in the works that will insure that finally gets everyone playing on the same game board. Other sources seem to be providing some corroboration.
Of course, the proof will be in the paychecks. Coughing up $US 2.50 per unit on players that sometimes are leaving the country with a price tag of $30 might not be so easy. My personal viewpoint on this is that the Chinese government and industry leaders see these IP charges as a form of 21st century imperialism, and are never going to be happy settling for the terms western governments try to impose. At least not until they have some patent portfolios of their own!