China launches new campaign against online piracy

BEIJING -- The government has launched a new campaign targeting rampant online piracy through enhanced supervision and inter-agency coordination, according to a Wednesday statement from the four ministry-level departments.

The four-month campaign will highlight supervision over both content providers and online storage and search engine services, as well as e-commerce platforms, according to a statement from the departments.

The four departments are the National Copyright Administration, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as the State Internet Information Office.

Local authorities will be required to conduct special investigations and boost routine inspections over online publications, said the statement.

The statement also proposed supervisory guidelines for e-commerce platforms under which service providers will be required to create specific rules for copyright protection and internal penalties for violations.

The Chinese government has been cracking down on intellectual property violations by launching frequent high-profile raids and campaigns.

In addition to government efforts, the country's Internet service providers have also been making greater efforts to protect intellectual property rights in order to achieve sustainable and healthy development.

Internet companies have been stepping up cooperation with copyright owners to offer authorized content, such as movies and music, to Internet users.