USTR Lists Special 301 Internet & Physical Markets Subject to IPR Enforcement
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced the conclusion of its Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets1, launched on October 1, 2010, which identifies examples of 16 Internet and 17 physical marketplaces that have been subject to enforcement action connected with counterfeiting and piracy, or that may merit further investigation for possible intellectual property right (IPR) infringements.
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(Inclusion in the Notorious Markets List does not reflect a finding of a violation of law or the U.S. Government’s analysis of the general IPR protection and enforcement climate in the country concerned (which is contained in the annual Special 301 Report), however, the U.S. urges the responsible authorities to intensify efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets, and to use the information contained in the Notorious Markets List to pursue legal actions where appropriate.)
Internet Markets Identified for Pirated Music, Smartphone Apps, Etc.
The Review identifies examples of Internet markets in categories, including pay-per-download music, links to infringed materials, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sites, BitTorrent indexing and trackers, live sports telecast piracy, smartphone software, and other web services. Among the examples of notorious markets in these categories are:
- Baidu: Recently ranked as the number one most visited site in China, and among the top ten in the world, exemplifies the problem of online services engaged in “deep linking,” or providing links to online locations containing allegedly infringing materials.
- ThePirateBay, torrentz.com, etc. Ten examples of websites involved in BitTorrent tracking and indexing, based in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Sweden, Canada, etc, that facilitate the high speed transfer of infringing materials between users, and in piracy of sports telecasts, Smartphone software and physical products. The sites include ThePirateBay, ISoHunt, Btjunkie, Rutracker, Demonoid, Publicbt, openbittorrent, etc.
- Taobao: Recently ranked in the 15 most visited sites in the world, and in the five most visited sites in China, Tabao offers infringing products (such as cigarettes, clothing, manufactured goods, pharmaceutical products and sporting goods) to consumers and businesses.
- 91.com: This site makes Smartphone software applications available to the public without compensating rights holders is reportedly responsible for more than half of all downloaded applications in China.
Physical Markets Found in China, India, Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico, Etc.
Among the 17 key notorious physical markets identified in the Review are:
- China: The silk market in Beijing as a particularly prominent example of the counterfeiting of consumer and industrial products endemic in many Chinese retail and wholesale markets; small commodities market in Yiwu reportedly sells mostly consumer goods; the Luowu market in Shenzhen and Guangzhou provinces are reportedly home to dozens of markets offering counterfeit or pirated goods; personal computer malls, such as Hailong PC Mall in Beijing and Yangpu Yigao Digital Square in Shanghai, sell computers with illegal operating system software and other unlawfully pre-installed software.
- India: Nehru place in New Deli is reportedly one of the many markets in major cities throughout India that are known for dealing in large volumes of pirated software, optical media and counterfeit goods.
- Paraguay: In Ciudad del Este, the city’s economy is based in part on the trafficking of counterfeit and infringed goods, with a particular emphasis on electronic goods. This activity spills over into the entire Tri-Border Region of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, creating a hotbed of piracy and counterfeiting.
- Colombia: The San Andresitos are marketplaces of varying sizes scattered throughout Colombia, notorious for unauthorized reproduction of music, video games and movies.
- Mexico: Tepito in Mexico City is reportedly the main warehousing and distribution center for pirated and counterfeit products sold at numerous informal markets throughout Mexico.
1The Notorious Markets List was previously included in the annual Special 301 Report, however, USTR has concluded that it can further expose and expand the notorious markets list to increase public awareness and guide related trade enforcement actions by initiating a separate, dedicated request for comments and publishing the list independently from the annual Special 301 Report.
Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets is available here.