USTR Says Piracy in China, Russia Still Too Severe
Despite progress on intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement in China and Russia, much improvement is needed, a govt. report said Fri. China will be a top IPR enforcement priority in the coming year, said the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) “Special 301” report. The USTR will scrutinize China, step up consideration of its WTO dispute settlement options and for the first time inspect IPR protection and enforcement in China by province.
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The report acknowledges Chinese efforts to tackle IPR problems, but it says infringement remains at unacceptable levels. In 2005 industry sources put piracy across all lines of copyright business at 85-93% -- little to no improvement. Though Chinese Pres. Hu Jintao met 2 weeks ago with Bush Administration officials in Washington on trade, his visit included no major IPR promises. Assessing Russia, the USTR said that nation has moved against production of pirated optical disc, but high levels of infringement persist, particularly in connection with Russia-based websites and optical disc plants.
A new Special 301 section focuses on “notorious markets,” as it terms troublesome websites and more traditional markets. Russia’s allofmp3.com, known as the world’s largest server-based pirate music site, was mentioned. Russian authorities are investigating the site, but haven’t been able to close it. China’s Baidu, the largest of 7 or more China-based “MP3 search engines” offering links to song files, also was named. Efforts against Baidu have included a Sept. 2005 court ruling requiring the site’s operators to pay $8,400 to a music firm for unauthorized downloads. Baidu reportedly has appealed, the USTR said.
Taiwan-based P2P service Kuro is another offender, the USTR said. In Sept., the service’s managers and a subscriber were found guilty of criminal copyright infringement and sentenced to prison terms, USTR said. In 2005’s Special 301, the U.S. urged the Taiwanese govt. to do better. “Safeguarding our creations and innovations is a key element of our trade competitiveness, but it is also in the interest of our trading partners to strengthen their IPR regimes,” outgoing USTR Rob Portman said.
The USTR wagged a finger at several Chinese brick & mortar markets: Xiangyang Market in Shanghai, Silk Street Market in Beijing, Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu. Gorbushka, Rubin Trade Center, Tsaritsino and Mitino in Moscow came in for censure, as did markets in the region where the borders of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil converge. Shopping districts in Sao Paulo, as well as Mexico City, Puebla and Guadalajara, Mexico, were called out in the report.
The report analyzed international Internet piracy in terms of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties. There now are 58 members of WIPO’s Copyright Treaty (WCT) and 57 members of its Performances & Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), USTR said. The count will rise significantly when EU member states join, the report said. Govt. use of software got attention, as the Special 301 noted China’s announcement earlier in April that it would require PCs to come with licensed operating system software installed and govt. agencies to buy only compliant computers.
The report offers leadership in confronting piracy, said MPAA Chmn. Dan Glickman. “The strength of our future economy depends on aggressively fighting theft of our creative works both at home and abroad,” he said. Core copyright industries bring $600 billion plus yearly to the U.S. economy and employ more than 5 million people, he said.” The Business Software Alliance (BSA) commended the USTR report. “If we are to effectively address piracy as a global challenge, we must encourage greater cooperation from countries where piracy continues to be a rampant problem,” said BSA Pres. Robert Holleyman.
RIAA Exec. Vp Neil Turkewitz also weighed in. Though Chinese officials have recently become more vocal about the need to protect IP, there’s an immediate need to narrow the gap between China’s promises and actions, he said: Beyond the production and sale of counterfeit CDs, also of particular concern are the development and adoption of laws to define rights and responsibilities for the Internet and other digital communication services. RIAA also said the “dire situation” in Russia must be addressed. “Russian officials have done little to stem the growth in facilities producing pirate discs or in taking down and prosecuting those responsible for the maintenance of pirate websites,” Turkewitz said.