Murdoch calls for Chinese open door and payment for internet content

News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has called on the Chinese government to open the door to international media competition and to take measures to ensure that intellectual property rights are protected.

Murdoch, speaking at the World Media Summit in Beijing, said that the growth of Chinese media companies would be hindered by intellectual property violations and that greater competition would make them better prepared for the international market.

Turning to a favourite theme, Murdoch also called on all content creators to recognise that what he called the “Philistine phase” of the evolution of the internet was almost over and that that users would have to begin to pay for quality content. “The aggregators and the plagiarists will soon have to pay a price for the co-opting of our content. But if we do not take advantage of the current movement toward paid-for content, it will be the content creators…who will pay the ultimate price and the content kleptomaniacs will triumph,” he said.