A Typical Session :: essays research papers

Ronnie quietly walked into her bedroom and closed her door, locking it behind her. She turned on some music appropriate for the occasion; "Am I Wrong?" by Love Spit Love and "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed being her favorite background music during difficult times. Ronnie moved to her dresser and opened one of its many drawers. She pulled out an innocent-looking box of matches from a local candle store. After opening it, she took out a slightly blood-stained cardboard pocket. Inside... A gleaming razorblade. Pulling the blade from its protective sheath, Ronnie sat on her bed. She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and looked at her left forearm. It was getting harder and harder for her to cut; her scars were not easy to cut over, and neither were fresh scabs. Finding a suitable area, Ronnie braced herself and slowly dragged the blade across her skin. Immediately, a thin line of blood streaked across her open forearm. Ronnie could feel relief flowing through her body. How good it felt to cut! How wonderful to release all of her pent-up energy! Eagerly, Ronnie made a second cut. Then a third. And a fourth. Soon, she had rows and rows of thin red lines, each about three inches long, running down her arm. When she came to her inner elbow, she stopped. Ronnie sat and pondered for a moment. Should she, having run out of space on her forearm, make more cuts on the next best area... her left ankle? Debating mentally, Ronnie finally decided against it. After you've cut an area, you can't cut there again for at least a week while the scabs heal. She needed to save her ankle in case she wanted to cut again in the next few days. The cutting done, Ronnie grabbed the box of Kleenex next to her bed. She pressed the tissues against the flow of blood coming from her arm. After several minutes, the bleeding stopped. Ronnie wrapped paper towels around her affected limb so she wouldn't get blood on her shirt and secured the towels with Scotch tape.

Chak De! India Essay -- Film Review

In Shimit Aman’s film Chak De! India, we examine the impact of India’s socio-political condition. In result, Aman’s film brings to light the political anxiety of post-colonial India. Furthermore, we are able to determine how the boundaries of Indian nation-states have an impact on the construction gender, sports, and space. Sports are dependent indicators of the socio-political atmosphere in India. It has become an emblem of Indian nationhood, dominated by males the practice of a national sports is the country’s symbol of the evolution of Indian modernity. Appadurai states, â€Å"The means of modernity contained in cricket require a confluence of lived interests where cricket producers and consumers can share the excitement of ‘Indiannes’ without its many divisive scars† (Appadurai, 179). Like Cricket, Field Hockey introduced to India by the British during the colonialism of the Indian empire. Thus, in the Indian context these sports produce an unexpected light on the relationship between nationhood and empire (Appadurai, 32). India has developed a collective identity of ‘Indianess’ through the vernacularization of these sports. The relationship between sports and politics is on the oldest pervading examples of the interaction of the institution and nationhood (Heitzman and Srinivas, 140). Sports become a lens in which the outsider can view the socio-political stratum. Within the beginning of the Film, the audience becomes aware of the importance of the Field Hockey match between India and Pakistan. Through this match, the space of Indian Muslim identity is hostile and prejudicial in the face of India. The match magnifies and politicizes the experience of the match while simultaneously being apart of a larger discourse of nationa... ...53). Furthermore, the Girls hockey team broke the gender stereotype by dominating a male domain, by performing bodily practices that ignore the differences of their nation-states. In one scene of the movie, when hockey officials decide not to send the girls team to Australia for the World Cup, the coach makes a deal in which the girls would challenge the men’s team in hopes of making it. The girls unite to put on a fierce match, and by competing in a male domain, they are rewarded with the opportunity to go play in the world cup. Moreover, they learned to reconcile religious discrimination for national sentiment through sports performance. In contrast to cricket, Appadurai states, â€Å"In the case of cricket in India, the key to the complex flows that linked cricket, class, and race in the colonial ecumene was the story of patronage and coaching in India†(Appdurai, 45).

Extreme and Moderate Characters in Moliére’s Tartuffe Essay -- essays

Extreme and Moderate Characters in Tartuffe   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Molià ©re’s Tartuffe (Moirà © 1664), the reader is able to see a great contrast of Extreme and Moderate characters. Extreme characters being those who are seen as over the top, or very passionate people, and the moderate characters having a more calm and subtle approach to ideas. The extreme characters in this case would be Madam Pernelle, Orgon, Tartuffe, and Dorine. The moderate characters are seen as Cleante and Elmire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the characters that obviously fall into the extreme character category would be that of Madam Pernelle. Madam Pernelle is an excellent example of an extreme character because of her sharp remarks, and the idea of telling people exactly what she thinks. From the very beginning of the play, the reader is able to identify how out spoken this character is when she begins to defend Tartuffe in the opening pages.. This is demonstrated when Madam Pernelle comments on a remark made by Dorine saying, â€Å"Girl, you talk to much, and I’m afraid / You’re far too saucy for a lady’s maid. / You push in everywhere and have your say† (I, I, 21)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another example of an extreme character in Tartuffe would be the character of Dorine. Much like Madam Pernelle, Dorine is an outspoken individual who does not like to be argued or reasoned with. She is very adamant about her idea of Tartuffe, and will not be easily persuaded into thinking otherw...

Critique of the paintings by the artist A.E. Backus Essay

Albert Ernest â€Å"Beanie† Backus is a gifted painter born on January 3, 1906 in Ft. Pierce, Florida. He studied at the Parsons School of Applied Art in New York but his talent in creating wonderful works of art is considered to be only self thought. He devoted his time in creating Florida landscapes after he came from the war and his works became widely popular through his exhibitions in Miami and Palm Beach. (â€Å"A. E. Backus: A brief biography,† 2007) Backus is famous for his creative works that feature picturesque Florida views like sunsets, the vistas of the Everglades, and spectacular beach and river views. One of his artworks, titled the â€Å"Early Taylor Creek† was in fact a nice example in his set of landscapes. Created in memory of S. N. Baruch, this work of art shows a view of a boat resting on a side of a creek with palm trees and a house looming on its background. The outlines of the shapes and lines are not overly emphasized and are applied in light strokes creating a wispy sort of image to the view. The colors used are mostly in the hues of light green, brown, and blue giving the impression of solemnity and mildness to the artwork. The shading of the colors in the picture is applied subtly while the texture gives a rather unrealistic and semi-solid sense of touch on the surface because of the way the lines are applied in wispy strokes. (â€Å"Permanent Collection,† 2007) When it comes to the application of the principles of design, this work of art can undoubtedly be considered as one having a nice visual balance. The informal type is used in this work wherein unlike objects are placed on either side of the picture to create the illusion of balance. With the boat serving as the central point, Backus created equilibrium by painting a clump of trees on the right side and pairing it with the picture of the house, an expanse of grass, and a withered trunk on the left. (â€Å"Principles of Design,† 2007) Variety is the principle that artists use to make a certain artwork interesting by creating complex relationships in their works to make it appealing and lively. For some painters, however, the concept of variety is out of the question when they want simplicity to rule in their creations. Here in Early Taylor’s Creek, the principle of simplicity is the one used because it displays elegance despite of its plainness in subject. The boat resting on the side of the creek and the house on its background, on the other hand, shows the application of the principle of emphasis since these are the objects that stood out most on the painting. (â€Å"Principles of Design,† 2007) When it comes to contrast, the concept of low contrast is applied in this work since the colors used are mainly in the same hues and the shapes doesn’t give an impression of obvious difference on the whole of the artwork. Repetition is displayed here by the withering trunks on both the left and right side of the picture and it also showed good rhythm by the way Backus painted the trees and the grass swaying in the same direction to emphasize movement. Also, the principle of scale showed here are shown in correct proportions to the standard size references of the actual objects making it look realistic in nature. The spacing of the objects in the picture is done well and the motions as well as depth are also simply well-displayed. (â€Å"Principles of Design,† 2007) Backus has an unrequited passion for wildlife and plants and through his natural talent; he was able to produce captivating paintings of tropical flowers and other flora. One of his particular favorite as his subject is the hibiscus which is a native in Hawaii and Malaysia. One of his paintings featuring this ubiquitous flower is his work called the â€Å"Offering to the gods† which features a native mask standing amidst a background of several leaves with a red hibiscus lying on its side. (â€Å"Wikipedia,† 2007) Studying the elements and the principles of designs applied to it, this artwork can be well considered as the opposite of Early Taylor’s Creek. The lines and shapes used here are well defined and geometric compared to the earlier landscape giving it a solid and distinct impression. The colors used here are mostly in black and in shades of dark brown, green, and red which gave it a rather gloomy and mysterious kind of feel. The shading applied also added to the factor of the artwork’s shadowy appearance. Due to the smooth application of strokes and the defined lines, the Offering to the gods was able to attain the kind of solidity that lacked in Early Taylor’s creek. (â€Å"Backusgallery. com,† 2007) In examining the principles of design used here, it is noticeable that this creation didn’t use the principle of balance. All the weight is placed on the left side of the picture because of the mask and the clump of leaves behind it. Only the hibiscus flower was placed on the right but its bright red color somehow made up to its lack of size when compared to the dull colors of the objects painted on the left side. Simplicity isn’t also applied here because when you first look at the picture, you will quickly notice the stand out image of the mask looming over the startling red hibiscus lying prone on its side. (â€Å"Principles of Design,† 2007) When it comes to the principle of variety, what lacked in Early Taylor’s Creek was abundant here in this work. Because of this picture’s mystifying look, it possessed a certain complexity that only the aspects of variety can only give. However, emphasis is hard to distinguish in this artwork because there are only two subjects painted here and both are certainly noticeable. The native mask can be considered as the focal point of the painting because of its appearance and size but the hibiscus can also be taken in as the important subject because its bright red color stands out from the shadowy background of green, brown, and black. On the other hand, the concept of high contrast is used here because of the emphasis of the color of the hibiscus over the shades of the mask, leaves and the background. (â€Å"Principles of Design,† 2007) The concept of repetition is out of the topic since the two subjects here are far different from each other. The principle of scale, however, was quite noticeable in this painting because of the monumental size of the mask over the hibiscus flower. Motion is not applied since the subjects portray a fixed position and the principle of rhythm is also disregarded since it is connected to the concept of repetition. The depth possessed by the artwork is also unfathomable because of the mysterious and gloomy quality brought by its subjects. (â€Å"Principles of Design,† 2007) The Early Taylor’s Creek piece is more appealing to me because of its sheer simplicity and elegance. Its concept is also easy to understand and interpret compared to the dark ‘feel’ that the Offerings to the gods give. I also find that the principles of design are well applied here because the concepts of balance are applied soundly and the lack of variety makes people to easily connect with the message it communicates. Movement and rhythm are also very well handled making this painting more realistic in nature. The Offerings to the gods’ concept may be appealing because of its mystifying aura but Early Taylor’s Creek is still my choice because of the light and placid feel it displays. References: Backusgallery. com. (2007). A. E. Backus: A brief biography. (2007). Permanent Collection. (2007). Principles of Design. (2007). Wikipedia. (2007).

Dance Critique Essay

Late last Saturday day night, on April 14,2012, I attended the very first dance concert at John Anthony Theater at Collin College Spring Creek Campus. This concert was performed by Collin Dance Ensemble, which is a vibrant company that performs innovative contemporary modern dance. Their goal is to produce dance works at the highest level of artistic excellence. The dance company attends and performs at the American College Dance Festival annually and has been selected for the Gala Performance at the regional festivals sevens times. At 7:30 pm, people started walking in to the theater, just a few minutes after, the audience seats filled with the crowed people who come to support the dancer, or maybe interested in dance performance, and mostly have â€Å"dance appreciation fever† like me. After the introduction of director, all the lights dimed down and the curtain slide up. The light focuses in the middle of the proscenium stage where there are group of seven dancers sat down in the middle of the stage ready to perform. They started it off with the piece called Friendships that was choreographer by the Chair of Dance Department and also a director of Collin Dance Ensemble, Tiffanee Arnold. Under the direction of Tiffanee Arnold, Collin College’s Dance Program has gained the reputation for excellence in dance education, choreography and performance. Music is Sinking Friendships by Jonsi, this piece was kind of bored to me as an unprofessional audience to really understand the concept of every part o f the story they tried to tell. Not very clear, but I can point out some of the movement of the dancer described the image of friendships such as holding hands and dance in circle as a group. And it was ballet so I’m not very interested. Outside topic, the theater was freezing cold. I try to concentrate to the performance to forget the coldness. The Time Between choreography by Reyna Mondragon is one of my favorite piece of the show. There were many of interesting parts, there were people ran across the stage back and forth while few others were illustrated the movement of time. The dance used running motion to create tick tick tick moves, it looked kind of cool to demonstrate the clock ticking. Through the  music by Clint DiFranco, Welcome to Lunar Industries, this piece is very modern. I love how to change the speed now and then during the performance. They just went freestyle in the climax of the song; there were a lot of running and walking movements, jumping, exciting and then they cut it out the slow motion dance with rhythm and powerful moves. People still ran across the stage, in my opinion they say that does not matter what’s going around you, time keeps running and life goes on. So far that night, one bored me and one got my attention to the show. Here comes the solo of Jake Harkey, the only male student in the group, performed Unseen Injuries by Tiffanee Arnold. This dance is in support of Collin College’s Center for Scholarly and Civic Engagement Book-In-Common: Soft Spots by Clint Van Winkle. And also it was inspired by several passages in the book, in particular: â€Å"But nobody talks about the mental wounds. It is the unseen injury that slips through the cracks, leads people to drinking, puts pressure on spouses, and causes healthy men to call the fire department for host symptoms. You are suppose to about-face and forward-march, forget about the war as soon as you get home, take 800 mg of Motrin and carry on like nothing ever happened. But how was I supposed to let go when I was reliving it every day?† (p.137; C. Van Winkle). One soldier, one person stood still in the middle of the stage. He was on the basic training clothes letting all the extensive madness out of his head. He raised the hands to try to reach out a reality of peace. Sometimes, he look back at what he had done as a soldier and all the images of war come back in his mind. The stress out anger movement was dynamic with the vocal sound. I can feel the pain through what he wanted to tell. He used wide range of space to show the falling and depression. He nailed the part wonderful as a college student. The one-foot stand come up to me as unbalance mind of a soldier in the war. Growing up in a country had a long history of fighting in war, I learn and see a lot about the soldier that come back from the war through real life and books. I can see in them not only the physical pain they had been through but also the spiritual scar that the war had impacted in them. I think that is why this piece Unseen Injuries gets my intention the most. The obsession will follow  them for the rest of their life. Narrative modern dance described the feeling of those soldier had been yearly in war. The performer was success to send out emotion of a soldier after war. It would seem sadly they are often overlooked impacting not only the injured but their friends, families and wider communities. Those with psychological trauma can go undetected and it can be years before medical treatment is sought. Tiffanee has a great choice on music of Message in a Bottle: Nancy’s Letter. Farewell Nancy by Ed Harcourt is very romantic and particular fit in the motif of this dance. I see a lot of dancing on ground level to create the sea scene. Soft and flexible are the word to describe their actions. The music inspired me to more focus on the dance. It represents the emotion of the main character want to see her lover so badly in distance relationship. And she also is a quite entertainer with piece Can’t Shake It. It got people excitement by their funky dance moves on those fluffy dresses. The audiences included myself were very enjoyable in this song. They showed that they couldn’t shake most part of their body from their trunk to head. Shame face and frustrated movements revealed to be ashamed part of their body couldn’t be shake. I think the dancer also enjoy themselves in such a piece. The performer are all college student so they were bit lack of perfection timing with each other and the steady movements which required in most ballet pieces. They were connected to the audience strongly in Scars, strong movements and ran toward downstage at the end. I would they were success to give out the message of each piece to me as the audience. Just a few was kind of bitter to figure out. I was born in 90s so ballet and jazz were not my type of entertaining dance. It is little bit far from my generation. But modern is more enjoyable to me. I like to move fast with rhythm especially hit all the beat of the music is way cooler. I don’t know any of Jazz moves in there cause I cannot tell. One thing I saw a lot that the modern and ballet, those dancers use many of motif manipulations such as incorporative with the turn and jump, repetition, levels (ground, middle, high jump),  rhythm was actually the part that I pay attention the most. Overall the concert was very great to me. Couple piece I did not understand what they try to say at all or I just did not be interested. Through all pieces by Tiffanee Arnold, I see that her choreography always tell a story along the dance. There is always something meaningful and deep down inside the performance that she wants the audience to see the piece and later on cautious thinking the background story.

Standards of Mgss

STANDARDS FOR THE MDGs I TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover PageI Table of ContentsII BodyIII ReferencesIV II THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS What are MDGs? Following the adoption of the United Nations Millenium Declaration, the Millenium Development Goals was established in 2000. Because of its extensive goals, the MDGs are being assisted by government organizations in trying to achieve those goals, among them are the following: the United Nations Millenium Campaign, the Millenium Promise Alliance Inc. the Global Poverty Project, the Micah Challenge, the Youth in Action EU Programme, â€Å"Cartoons in Action† video project, and the 8 Visions of Hope global art project. The main goal of the MDGs is to effect development by improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries. These are derived from earlier international development targets, which were officially established after the Millenium Summit in 2000, where the United Nations Millenium Declaration was adopted.These MDGs were developed from the eight chapters of Millennium Declaration, which was signed in September, 2000. The effect was that developing nations were not seen as left to achieve the MDG goals by themselves, but rather as a partner in the developing-developed compact to reduce world poverty. There are eight goals with 21 targets, and a series of measurable health indicators and economic indicators for each target. However, there are still drawbacks in the MDGs which includes shortsightedness where analytical power is concerned and the justification behind the chosen objectives.Because of the joint responsibility of developing and developed countries for achieving the MDGs, the possibility of it becoming a success continuously increases and is still reinforced by their 189-country support. At present, there is no uniformity as far as progress towards reaching the goals is concerned. The goal of empowering women has progressed towards the MDGs, and there is a strong enc ouragement to increase emphasis on gended mainstreaming debelopment policies and collecting data based on gender.As a result, a major conference was held at the UN headquarters in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to review progress, with five years left to the 2015 deadline. There were new commitments on women’s and children’s health, and major new initiatives in the worldwide battle against poverty, hunger and disease. It is obvious that developed countries continuously provide aid for the achievement of the MDGs which have been rising over the recent years, and has shown that more than half is towards debt relief owed by poor countries.The Australian government itself committed to providing 0. 5% of GNI in International Development Assistance by 2015-2016. One of the improvements provided by the MDGs is the provision of more health services to the developing countries. Researchers suggest that developed countries should treat global health inequalities and humanitari an issue being a part of national strategy. During the 2010 Summit, member states initiated steps towards advancing the Post-2015 Development Agenda and are now developing a process of open, inclusive consultations on the post-2015 agenda.Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon appointed 26 civil society, private sector, and government leaders from all regions to a high-level panel to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015. An organization which aims to increase support to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and seek coalition for partners of action is the role of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. UN Goals is dedicated to spreading knowledge of the millennium goals through many different means by means of various internet and offline awareness campaigns. Ethical Bases for the Establishment of MDGsThe Following are the eight goals of the MDGs: * Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; * Achieve universal primary education; * Promote gender equality and empower women; * Re duce child mortality; * Improve maternal health; * Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; * Ensure environmental sustainability; and * Develop a global partnership for development UNDP assists people at all levels of society in helping to build nations that can withstand crisis, and work for, and sustain the kind of growth for the improvement of the quality of life for everyone.The focus is to help countries to build and share solutions to achieve Poverty Reduction and the Millenium Development Goals, Democratic governance, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Environment and Energy for Sustainable Development. In Uruguay for example, an extensive children’s health program has reduced rates of malnutrition, prematurity, low birth weight and other markers in the department of Canelones. In Darfur, Sudan, a rule-of-law programme is helping promote and improve equal access to justice. In China, farmers are being trained to adapt farming techniques to international trading stand ard, providing them with greater profits.In Brazil, eco-stoves that retain heat longer and are easier to oversee, provide indigenous people to lead healthier lives. According to the 2013 Human Development Report, there is a profound shift in global dynamics driven by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human development. UNDP can be felt in more than 170 countries and territories and decades of concrete development experience in countries ranging from fragile States to middle-income countries like Brazil and Indonesia.These and other developments qualify the MDGs to answer the call for a better and more sustainable future. * Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger There is always the realization that in the midst of our comfort zones, the stark reality exists where in some parts of the world, people are living in extreme poverty. Much to the desire of those who have more, like the developed countries, still, it lowers the morale to see this extreme poverty manifested in different forms, like the number of displaced refugees that remain high, despite the repatriation in 2011. Achieve Universal Primary Education We cannot do away with the reality that young adolescents from poor and rural households are more likely to be out of school. Everyone has that moral obligation to solve the problem of others, even if we think they can also be capable of helping themselves. * Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women We know that there are already women representations in the governments of nations but it is a fact that the pace is slow. This MDG effort aims to answer the ethical question of gender equality. Reduce child Mortality Every child has a right to be born, nurtured and nourished until maturity. However, the fact remains that in some parts of the world, the rate of child mortality is alarmingly high. We are compelled to do our best to address this problem through the ethical basis of concern. We do exist not only fo r ourselves but for the less fortunate others as well. * Improve Maternal Health Women are the strength of society. Their health are most important so much so that they are the determinants of the rise and fall of any society.Their roles as mothers entail that they should be in their best of health. Thus, an ethical calling for maternal concern is likewise being answere by the MDGs. * Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases Universal concern suggests that humans should continue to sustain on earth. Thus, there is a need to improve advancements in medicine, health and technology. This is not a matter of ordinary necessity, but one of humanitarian consideration that should be inherent in each one of us. * Ensure Environmental SustainabilityThis is likewise another moral obligation that needs regular attention. * Develop a Global Partnership for Development Efforts to sustain development is not the job of a single organization. People of all ages from all walks of life must unders tand they should treat themselves as stewards of wealth and nature and thus, it is pertinent that each person must regard mimself or herself as a contributing partner to the goals of the MDG. REFERENCES * http://www. undp. org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg3/ * http://www. undp. rg/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg2/ * http://www. undp. org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg1/ * http://www. undp. org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview. html * Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water United Nations Millennium Development Goals website, retrieved 16 June 2009. * http://www. oecd. org/dac/theoecdandthemillenniumdevelopmentgoals. htm * MDGs†. YouTube. Retrieved 2012-10-14. â€Å"Welcome to the Development Education online Depository! â€Å". Developmenteducation. nfo. * Subramanian, Savitha; Joseph Naimoli, Toru Matsubayashi, David Peters (2011). â€Å"Do We Have the Right Models for Scalingà ‚   Up Health Services to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals? â€Å". BMC Health Services Research  11  (336). *   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Goal  :: Improve Maternal Health†. Mdg Monitor. 2012-10-18. * â€Å"United Nations Millennium Development Goals†. Un. org. 2008-05-20. 2012-10-18 * â€Å"Goal  :: Develop a Global Partnership for Development†. Mdg Monitor. 2012-10-18 * â€Å"Goal: Tracking the Millennium Development Goals†. MDG Monitor. 1 November 2007. 2012-10-14. IV

Vietnam Piracy History

II. The Prioriry actions requested in 2012: IIPA had hoped that the 2005 passage of the IP Code in Vietnam, revisions to the Criminal Code in 2009, an administrative enforcement Decree (No. 47) also in 2009, and a nationwide judicial reformprocess would lead to steady improvements in copyright protection, allowing a legitimate creative marketplace to emerge in Vietnam. Unfortunately, online and mobile piracy has gotten significantly worse in Vietnam, and end-user piracy of business software remains largely unchecked, among other piracy problems.Increased Internet and mobile penetration and more widely available broadband capacity have led to a severe increase in the trade of illegal copyright files online. Technological advances in Vietnam have outpaced the government’s response to copyright issues, notwithstanding that the Vietnamese have long recognized that piracy in the country is increasingly â€Å"sophisticated† and involves violations of â€Å"most of the object s of the rights†.The Vietnamese Government has taken very few enforcement actions over the years, and no criminal case has ever been brought to address copyright piracy. Because of that, IIPA has launched the priority actions requested in 2012 to reduce the piracy situation in Vietnam: Enforcement: * Devote greater resources and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) Inspectorate and Economic Police manpower to running raids and bringing cases under the Criminal Code through targeted criminal actions,e. . , against online piracy, retail and source piracy,.. * Take effective enforcement measures against notorious infringing sites whose business models are based on providing access to infringing content, including in particular those sites such as Socbay. com, Bamboo. com,†¦ * Enforce Ordinance No. 4 and Decree No. 47 on administrative remedies for copyright infringement, imposing maximum penalties. * Reduce pirated imports from China. Reduce signal theft by removin g illegal content from local cable operators and stopping retransmission of signals from neighboring countries without license. Legislation and Market Access * Issue implementing guidance for the revised Criminal Code so that prosecutions can commence, in line with Vietnam’s BTA obligation, including by confirming that the Code applies to online distributions, and providing detailed interpretations of â€Å"commercial scale† infringements that include those undertaken without a profit motive. Make necessary changes to IP Code and implementing decrees to ensure Vietnam is in full compliance with its BTA and other international obligations, and otherwise facilitate the free exercise of rights by copyright owners. * Expedite the drafting process for, and provide public consultation as to, amendments to the Internet Decree (or circular) on ISP liability that clarifies the secondary liability of ISPs and requires ISPs to take responsibility and cooperate with right holders to combat online infringements both in the hosted and the non-hosted environment. Afford U. S. right holders greater access to the Vietnamese market, by eliminating foreign investment restrictions and other entry barriers with respect to production, importation and distribution of copyright materials whether in the physical or online/mobile marketplaces. * Extend the term of protection for sound recordings to the BTA-compatible term (75 years or more) and otherwise extend copyright term in line with the international trend (life of the author plus 70 years). * Pass optical disc licensing regulation. III.The actual out come of the 2011 decisions (the result in 2012 after applying priority actions requested in 2012) IIPA hopes the issuance and entry into force in 2012 of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) Joint Circular on Stipulations on the Responsibilities for Intermediary Service Providers in the Protection of C opyright and Related Rights on the Internet and Telecommunications Networks will lead to significant reductions in online and mobile piracy in the country, including closures of notorious websites and services built on copyright infringement.The IP Code, Criminal Code, administrative enforcement Ordinances and Decrees, and judicial reform, must all be brought to bear to significantly reduce all forms of piracy, including online and mobile piracy, enterprise end-user piracy of software, physical piracy, and book piracy which remain largely unchecked in Vietnam. And the results after applying priority actions requested in 2012, Piracy Situation and enforcement challenges in Viet Nam are summarized as follows: 1.Internet and Mobile Piracy Causing Severe Damage to Copyright Owners: Increased Internet and mobile penetration and more widely available broadband capacity have led to a severe increase in the trade of illegal copyright files online. Internet penetration continued on an upward path, with reportedly 31. 1 million Internet users according to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) of Vietnam, with 3G mobile Internet users reaching 16 million (18% of the country’s population).Vietnam ranks 18th in the world, 8th in Asia, and 3rd in Southeast Asia in the total number of Internet users. According to MIC, there are 19 Internet service providers, some 1,064 licensed websites, and 335 social networks operating in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the vast majority of websites dealing in copyright content remain unlicensed, although there are now a few operators of online services providing licensed music (representing, however, only 1% of online music services).The rest are streaming and download sites (50%), forums (21%), video websites (17%), search engines (8%), deeplinking, cyberlocker, and social network sites all being employed to deliver unlicensed copyright content, including music, movies, entertainment and software, and published materials. N ot only the repertoire of VietNam but international and other Asian repertoire such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean music can also be found on these sites. And University networks are increasingly being used for dissemination of infringing content.Specific example for this case is Zing. vn. Zing. vn is one notorious website which was identified by IIPA in its annual notorious markets filing with the U. S. Trade Representative, and USTR placed Zing. vn on its â€Å"Notorious Markets† list. Zing. vn is an online portal service operated by VNG Corporation (previously called VinaGame) in Vietnam. Zing. vn provides various services including an online music portal, social networking, a search engine, instant messaging, movies, karaoke, video and photos. Zing. n, well documented in last year’s IIPA Special 301 report, was proposed by IIPA as a â€Å"notoriousmarket† in its Special 301 out-of-cycle review submission in September 2012, and USTR agreed in its December 20 12 announcement. USTR noted in its announcement, â€Å"In addition to being a social media site, Vietnam-based Zing. vn also includes an infringing deeplinking music portal, which reportedly attracts large numbers of users to the site. † They also indicated, â€Å"We understand that VNG, Zing’s parent company is currently in talks with rights holders to obtain the necessary licenses to transitionZing into an authorized digital music platform. † With rapid increases in mobile phone subscribers in Vietnam, there has also been an increase in mobile piracy over the year. Right holders now face two major challenges in the mobile space: 1) the loading by mobile device vendors of illegal copyright content onto devices at the point of sale; and 2) illegal music channels or â€Å"apps† set up to be accessed on mobile platforms, without any intervention from the authorities to cease such activities.As an example of this phenomenon, sites like Socbay. com offer ille gal downloads of ringtones to mobile phones, but Socbay has now developed a mobile â€Å"app† called Socbay iMedia which provides a variety of unauthorized entertainment content, including, inter alia, music files. This second phenomenon will, if allowed unchecked, threaten the entire online/mobile market for music and other copyright materials into the future and must be addressed. 2.Enterprise End-User Piracy of Software Harms the Software Industry and Stunts the Growth of the IT Sector: The software industry reports a continued high level of software piracy in Vietnam. In 2011, the software piracy rate in Vietnam was 81% (among the highest in the world), representing a commercial value of unlicensed software of US$395 million. 13 This includes widespread unlicensed software use by enterprises in Vietnam, retail piracy, and hard disk loading of unlicensed software. Most leading cities, such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da N? ng, and H? Phong are still key software piracy hot spots. The industry also notes the desperate need for legalization of software usage within the Vietnamese government. It has been recognized by some within the Vietnamese government that use of unlicensed commercial software is occurring within government ministries. Some initial discussions on government legalization have commenced between BSA and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), with a focus on legalization procedures and the government avoiding any mandates orpreferences for the purchase of specific types of software. . Physical Piracy Remains Rampant, Including Pirate Imports, Pirate Burned Content, Factory Production, and â€Å"Media Box† Piracy: Evidence of physical piracy, including virtually 100% piracy of home video entertainment, can still be found everywhere in Vietnam, especially in urban areas like Ha Noi, HCM City,†¦ It remains very easy to buy almost imported discs (from China mainly),burned discs or factory discs of any kind of conte nt, and pirated software is readily available at shops on the socalled â€Å"PC streets† or other â€Å"CD-DVD† shops.Vietnamese-sourced pirate products flood the domestic markets and have been found in other markets in recent years in Asia, North America, and even Eastern Europe. For the music industry, with piracy levels still extremely high, financial returns for recorded music sales have dropped so deeply that the companies involved are unable to invest in new albums and artists, choosing to recoup investment through ring tones, ring-back tones, ancillary revenues for personality rights, and music channel licensing. 4. Book and Journal Piracy Severely Harms Publishers:Book and journal publishers continue to suffer from rampant piracy in Vietnam, in the form of illegal reprints and unauthorized photocopies. Bookshops, roadside vendors and copy shops all sell unauthorized copies of bestselling trade books, travel books and academic textbooks, and unlicensed print ove rruns continue to harm foreign publishers. Unauthorized translations produced by university lecturers or professors have been detected, in which the lecturers or professors append their name to the translated textbook.State-sector publishers also have an interest in making sure their licenses (such as those of the Ministry of Youth and the General Publishing House of Ho Chi Minh City) are not misused. 5. Signal Piracy/Pay TV Piracy: Vietnam's Pay-TV sector is one of the fastest developing markets in the Asia Pacific, and is set to rank fourth in the region in growth over the next four years. With 4. 2 million overall connections, and digital systems taking hold (including through Vietnamese Government infusion of capital), signal piracy in Vietnam still holds back the legitimate Pay-TV market, and causes major damages to right holders. Overspill† is also a problem in Vietnam as cable operators capture signals from neighboring countries’ satellite systems. These are ende mic problems which the government should address. A relatively new and dangerous problem in Vietnam involves the operation of websites which steal pay-TV signals and stream them onto the Internet. Several sites have been identified as streaming premium content channels without authorization, mainly focusing on motion pictures or sports content.In general, after applying the above policy, the piracy situation in Vietnam has not improved. One of the reasons for this situation is enforcement challenges. Enforcement updates in Vi? t Nam: Failure to Address Internet and Mobile Device Piracy: Despite notifying the Vietnamese government ofsites involved in piracy of music, movies, software, games, and published works (with reports of growing electronic piracy of textbooks and dictionaries, among other published products), the government has been mainly inactive and disinterested. Notorious piracy site zing. n has been brought to the attention of administrative authorities in Vietnam, but t here has been no response. The problem is further compounded by existing administrative enforcement remedies being rendered ineffective by: * The lack of an effective procedure to deal with online piracy administrative complaints. * A heavy burden on right holders for production of evidence and proof of actual damages. * Continued rudimentary issues related to ability to identify and effectively deal with online infringement cases. * Lack of compliance with administrative ordersCourt Reform Efforts Lacking: The inactivity of the courts in dealing with copyright infringement issues is a major disappointment. There have to date been relatively few civil court actions involving copyright infringement in Vietnam. The main reasons for this are complicated procedures, delays, and a lack of certainty as to the expected outcome. Building IP expertise must be a part of the overall judicial reform effort. Training should be provided to police and prosecutors as they play a very important role in bringing a criminal offense case to the courts.End-User Piracy Enforcement: One relatively bright spot in enforcement seems to be in the area of addressing software piracy. In 2012, more raids were taken with participation of both MCST and the MPS Anti-High Tech Crime Police. Administrative fines remain relatively low, generally, VND50 million (around US$2,400), never reaching the maximum applicable rate of VND500 million (US$24,000). The industry also reports stronger support given to both enforcement and educational campaigns to sensitize the public to the need to use legal software.The presence of the High Tech Police is now seen as essential for the success of raids as they possess technical knowledge which is helpful to achieving effective raids. In addition, there are training courts covered the overview of copyright laws and the value of IP and innovation. There remain no implementing guidelines for the revised Criminal Code, so no software piracy cases have ever been bro ught to Criminal Court. Very Little Enforcement Against Hard Goods Piracy:Though MCST has indicated its recognition of the hard goods piracy problem, it has devoted very few resources to deal with physical piracy across Vietnam. Only a ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, including actions against open and blatant piracy activities of all kinds, with deterrent administrative fines meted out to their maximums, license revocations, shop closures, seizures of pirate imports and pirated product destined for export by Customs, and criminal penalties can result in a significant reduction in piracy in Vietnam.