With negotiations moving forward for Russia to join the World...

told U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a letter made public Thursday. USTR’s most recent Special 301 review of countries with troubling records on IPR said Russia remains a haven for “widespread” piracy and counterfeiting, storage of pirated CDs on “government-controlled military-industrial sites,” gaps in enforcement and law concerning online piracy, enforcement that varies by region, and “selective” enforcement, the letter said. “Prosecutions and convictions do not necessarily follow” initial enforcement efforts, said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich. “A high standard accession package will be essential” before Congress considers a vote to remove Russia from the statutory list of countries ineligible for “normal” trade relations, “which is necessary for the United States to enjoy the full benefits” of Russia’s WTO membership. The Judiciary leaders also pointed to a recent report from the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, which calls Russian cyberespionage “a dangerous threat” to the U.S. economy and national security. Even the progress made since 2006, when Russia and the U.S. signed a bilateral agreement on IPR protection and enforcement (WID Nov 21/06 p6), can’t outweigh U.S. skepticism about “the intention and commitment of the Russian Government to abide by and enforce the obligations it will assume” in the WTO, and especially regarding the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, the letter said. Russia must show its commitment through “transparent, substantive and prompt actions,” leaders said.