IIPA Asks USTR to Keep Monitoring Piracy in Russia, China
Piracy “infects” key markets and many nations are loath to administer a cure, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) told the USTR. Russia and China again topped IIPA’s list of pirate-friendly countries, as USTR prepares its annual Special 301 review of piracy and market access problems around the world.
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“In too many places we still confront problems that could easily be addressed,” RIAA International Vp Neil Turkewitz said: “In many countries, a political recognition that piracy should not be countenanced is not matched by a determination to take appropriate enforcement steps to address it.”
IIPA member Business Software Alliance (BSA) “assists” trading partners “who work in good faith to update their IP protections,” BSA Pres. Robert Holleyman said. But piracy “remains the largest trade barrier for our industry.” In 2006, piracy cost the software industry $28 billion-plus, BSA said. “Copyright-driven” industries lost at least $30-35 billion to piracy last year, not counting “significant losses due to Internet piracy for which meaningful comprehensive estimates are not yet available,” IIPA said.
China shouldn’t escape USTR attention, particularly now with its “incredible growth” in broadband, IIPA said. Better, faster Internet connections help pirates copy and move wares, and “long awaited” Chinese Internet IP rules are “generally good” but haven’t been carried out, IIPA said. The Chinese govt. needs to “clarify” laws and enforcement procedures and “expand the opportunity for U.S. copyright based industries to offer legitimate materials to the Chinese public,” IIPA said.
China has made “enormous strides in publicly recognizing the importance” of IP protection but doesn’t enforce its laws, Turkewitz said. “Administrative” penalties there should be upgraded to prison sentences in some cases, he said: “Without criminal prosecutions and deterrent sentencing, commercial pirates will remain in business.”
Russia also should remain on the watch list because it hosts “some of the world’s most notorious pirate websites,” including allofmp3.com (WID Dec 22 p1), IIPA said: “Little progress has been made in convincing Russia to take the enforcement actions that could reduce these high piracy levels,” IIPA said. Last year’s U.S.-Russia Intellectual Property Rights agreement, in which Russia committed to combat physical and online piracy, “was a ray of hope”, Turkewitz said. But if Russia fails to meet obligations, the U.S. should “unilaterally impose sanctions on Russian exports to the United States,” he said.
Countries IIPA wants added to USTR’s Watch List include Spain, Greece, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.