The wide spread
of social media such as Facebook and twitter had shrunk the distance among
people in different parts of the world and providing instant information to
bring us more convenient and fulfilling lives. However, as there is always lack
of editorial and legal control over the information transmitted, copyright
infringement is becoming a severe problem nowadays. In China, misused of
advertising photos on shopping website are being known as a common phenomenon, many
shop owners are using others photos to advertise their own products; it leads
to the false advertising and disputes among customers and shop owners. To
minimize the false advertising issues, IRP Team (Intellectual Property) of
Taobao, SAIC( State Administration of Industry and Commerce of
the people’s Republic of China)have crucial role to play in enforcing the relevant
law and educating public.
Advanced
technology of network enhance the large amount of photos being exposed and shared
on platform like Weibo in China, this increase the chance for online shoppers
to collect and use unauthorized photos from those platform. According to the
report, Taobao has always been criticized for offering counterfeit products and
has often allows merchants to sell a brand’s
products without the brand’s authorization (Frank, 2015). Taobao
sellers usually post photos of products which are manufactured by other shops,
or advertise their own products by using other shops brand to attract more customers. Furthermore,
SAIC released a report claimed that 10.6% of products sold on major Chinese
websites on the Single's Day online shopping holiday were not legitimate
products from authorized dealers(Frank, 2015). The evidence shows that the copyright
infringement, especially for photos had resulted in false advertisement and
further violates customer’s right.
Taobao had implemented IRT Protection
System to deal with the problems. Online reporting system allows shoppers and
shop holders to report sellers who are using unauthorised photos. Penalty
system was being used to alert and penalise sellers who intend to “steal”
photos from other shops. However, the online reporting system has not been
successful as reporter has to provide original photos of products to prove their
ownership; the maximum size for uploaded photos is only 5MB. In many cases, it
is difficult for officers to differentiate the original photos and infringing photos,
furthermore ,it always take few days for them to complete the reporting
process. The inefficient measurements explain why the false advertising is
still rampant in China now.
To resolve the problem in more efficient
way, reporting system in Taobao have to be developed. Firstly, IRT Protection
System should increase more ways for people to provide information and evidence
during reporting process. According to Time News, Amazon is the top online
retailer with the largest sale in the world (John, 2013), it putting more
effort in resisting infringing photos through more complete and sophisticated
reporting system, to prevent counterfeit products from being sold. It allows
photos to be uploaded in forms of link if the images size is too big and maximum
fifty products can be reported at the same time (Amazon.com), this helps sellers
to provide evidence efficiently and have higher chance to succeed in reporting.
Secondly, more details should be required from reporter when reporting. In case
of Taobao, the ownership of products and photos, especially between producers
and agent is always difficult to be identified. Therefore, the reporting list
should include information such as status and company name of seller, as well
as personal information of shop owner and stuff participated in the production
of products and photos. As more information provided, progress for
investigation and report auditing may not be so time consuming.
Apart from the development of reporting
system, SAIC also play an important role in supervising the operation of Taobao.
As mentioned before, Taobao’s reporting system has to be developed to increase
the efficiency of resisting infringing photos. However, it will only succeed if
IRT Team is fulfilling their obligation. According to Sina News, corruption
between sellers and IRT officers have became common phenomena in Taobao (Liang,2012).
Officers who accepted bribes help illegal sellers to remove report towards them
so those sellers can continue using infringing photos. Some corrupted employees
remove the comment from costumers who being deceived by the sellers. In order
to prevent the operation of system being disturb by the dishonesty officers,
SAIC have to increase pressure on Taobao to supervise IRT Team by enhance relevant
law. In 2012, under the pressure of SAIC, nine Taobao stores have been closed
down and permanently barred from the Internet shopping platform after they
allegedly bribed Taobao employees for illegal gains (ChinaDairy, 2012).This demonstrates
that the surveillance of SAIC and the participation of Taobao managers are essential
in fighting with copyright infringement.
In conclusion, inefficiency of IRP
Protection System and corruption among Taobao employee are one of the main problems
of the photo infringement in Taobao. As the using of infringing photos on
Taobao is rampant now, reporting system have to develop more efficient way to
enable people to report infringing photos, likewise, SAIC have responsibility
to ensure that the reporting system can be functioned normally.
(848words)
Reference:
Frank,T,(2015),Alibaba disputes a Chinese government report that
it sells phony goods. Internet Retailer.Retrieved
from: https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/01/28/alibaba-defends-itself-reports-it-sells-phony-goods
John,(2013),List Of 10 Best Online Shopping Sites In The World.Times News.Retrieved from: http://www.timesnews.co.uk/974-list-of-10-best-online-shopping-sites-in-the-world/
(2012),9 Taoba stores shut for bribery.ChinaDairy.Retrieved from: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-05/05/content_15217581.htm
1. What do you like the best about the ideas in this essay? Be specific. (precise vocabulary, cohesive/linked ideas, clear/easy to follow discussion, convincing, effective reasoning/argument, well-developed ideas, well-supported topic sentences, understandable transitions, etc.)
回覆刪除I think that this essay is very focused. You have a strong direction and you know which parties are responsible and are able to help solve the problems.
2. Is there a clear, narrowly-focused problem presented in the essay? Is it contextualized in the intro? Is it expressed well in the thesis?
The idea was generally clear although it can be strengthen in the intro itself. The intro could maybe explain context of problem clearer.
3. How well is the first solution described? How effectively is that solution evaluated?
The first solution was specific and clear. The suggestion was sound and feasible.
4. How well is the second solution described? Is it effectively connected to a positive outcome?
Her suggested solution was sound. The part whereby you mentioned that there exists corrupted officials can also be explored and solved.
5. Are there any ideas in the essay that need further development? Which parts of the essay require further elaboration?
I think your problems and solutions should have a strong link to social media and how the problem was like in the platforms. It needs to be clear.
6. Does the writer effectively use outside source material to illustrate the problem and/or the solutions?
It's good that you cite your examples and evidences. However, i feel that you could better explore external ideas on the issue and fine supporting ideas to cite in your essay.
7. What is your impression of the flow of the content?
It was okay but i feel that the link can be stronger, especially the intro. The link between the intro and the content seems to be very weak
8. Are there any ideas in the essay that are not clear or that you find confusing? Underscore/ highlight these.
The wide spread of social media such as Facebook and twitter had shrunk the distance among people in different parts of the world and providing instant information to bring us more convenient and fulfilling lives. However, as there is always lack of editorial and legal control over the information transmitted, copyright infringement is becoming a severe problem nowadays. In China, misused of advertising photos on shopping website are being known as a common phenomenon, many shop owners are using others photos to advertise their own products; it leads to the false advertising and disputes among customers and shop owners.
The intro does not show how false advertising is an issue in social media. The link of false advertising and social media should be strong throughout. but it was weak instead.
9. Are the citations used in this essay appropriate? Are the reporting verbs effectively used? Does the reference list adhere to the APA guidelines?
The citations and reference were appropriate.
10. Can you give a couple specific suggestions for how the writer could most improve this essay?
Have a focused link to the question at hand. The content is good but it would not account for anything if the link isn't strong,
Cheers,
Asyraf
thanks for your comment! It is really helpful.
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