China and India will remain among the 13 countries on the U.S. Trade Representative’s priority watch list this year for copyright and other IP rights violations, the USTR office said Thursday in its annual special 301 report. China and India have improved their IP policies, but other new policies have become a cause for concern, said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman on a conference call with reporters. Other nations on the priority watch list are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Venezuela. The report placed another 24 countries on the USTR’s lower-tier watch list: Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The 2014 special 301 report included 10 countries on the priority watch list and 27 on the regular watch list (see 1405020082).

The TaoBao online service of Alibaba continues to peddle “innumerable” counterfeit goods on a daily basis, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in an April 8 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White. Some AAFA members have been successful in forcing TaoBao to remove fake goods from the site, while other U.S. companies complain about the website’s “slow and cumbersome procedures” for removal, said AAFA in letters to the officials. “Even successes are short-lived as counterfeit products often reappear within hours or days of a take-down,” the letters said.

Last week’s U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 report on “notorious” IP markets claimed that domain “registrars are required … to take action by locking or suspending domains when they receive a notice about one of their domains facilitating illegal activity,” an Electronic Frontier Foundation blog post said Tuesday. “This isn't true, and by claiming it is, USTR is here repeating the United States entertainment industry's current talking points,” notably those of MPAA and RIAA, it said. ICANN has an agreement with registrars that they should act when “notified of illegal activity,” including piracy and counterfeiting, the report (see 1503050040) said. “On the same day as the Notorious Markets list was published, the RIAA wrote a letter to ICANN claiming that it is not ‘appropriate’ for registrars to deny any obligation to respond to their members' complaints,” EFF said. MPAA, RIAA and USTR didn’t comment.

Last week’s U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 report on “notorious” IP markets claimed that domain “registrars are required … to take action by locking or suspending domains when they receive a notice about one of their domains facilitating illegal activity,” an Electronic Frontier Foundation blog post said Tuesday. “This isn't true, and by claiming it is, USTR is here repeating the United States entertainment industry's current talking points,” notably those of MPAA and RIAA, it said. ICANN has an agreement with registrars that they should act when “notified of illegal activity,” including piracy and counterfeiting, the report (see 1503050040) said. “On the same day as the Notorious Markets list was published, the RIAA wrote a letter to ICANN claiming that it is not ‘appropriate’ for registrars to deny any obligation to respond to their members' complaints,” EFF said. MPAA, RIAA and USTR didn’t comment.

The recent U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 report on “notorious” IP markets (see 1503060033) claimed that domain “registrars are required … to take action by locking or suspending domains when they receive a notice about one of their domains facilitating illegal activity,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a March 11 blog post (here). “This isn't true, and by claiming it is, USTR is here repeating the United States entertainment industry's current talking points,” notably those of the Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America, it said. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has an agreement with registrars that they should act when “notified of illegal activity,” including piracy and counterfeiting, USTR said. “On the same day as the Notorious Markets list was published, the RIAA wrote a letter to ICANN claiming that it is not ‘appropriate’ for registrars to deny any obligation to respond to their members' complaints,” EFF said. MPAA, RIAA and USTR didn’t comment.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance applauded the U.S. Trade Representative’s Special out-of-cycle report on “notorious” IP markets. IIPA said in a Friday news release that it welcomed USTR’s inclusion of possible bad IP actors in the domain registrar industry. The report, which USTR released Thursday (see 1503050040), reviews IP protections and other market practices in foreign countries and highlights those nations with the most problematic IP standards, and IIPA filed comments in the review earlier (see 1502060043). USTR’s “listing process works, commanding the attention of marketplace operators and responsible governments,” IIPA Counsel Steven Metalitz said in the release. “This year’s report again mentions markets removed from the list, either because they were shut down by law enforcement, or because the market operators have taken appropriate steps to ensure their market is not used for piracy.”

The International Intellectual Property Alliance applauded the U.S. Trade Representative’s Special out-of-cycle report on “notorious” IP markets. IIPA said in a Friday news release that it welcomed USTR’s inclusion of possible bad IP actors in the domain registrar industry. The report, which USTR released Thursday (see 1503050040), reviews IP protections and other market practices in foreign countries and highlights those nations with the most problematic IP standards, and IIPA filed comments in the review earlier (see 1502060043). USTR’s “listing process works, commanding the attention of marketplace operators and responsible governments,” IIPA Counsel Steven Metalitz said in the release. “This year’s report again mentions markets removed from the list, either because they were shut down by law enforcement, or because the market operators have taken appropriate steps to ensure their market is not used for piracy.”

The issue of some domain registrars allegedly supporting online piracy was highlighted in the U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 out-of-cycle report on “notorious” IP markets. The report, which USTR released Thursday, reviews IP protections and other market practices in foreign countries and highlights those nations with the most problematic IP standards (see 1502060043). ICANN has an agreement with registrars that they should act when “notified of illegal activity,” including piracy and counterfeiting, said the report. “Some registrars, however, reportedly disobey court orders and other communications, including from government enforcement authorities,” said USTR. “Some registrars apparently even advertise to the online community that they will not take action against illicit activity, presumably to incentivize registrations by owners and operators of illicit sites.” The report singled out several infringing websites as particularly problematic, including 4shared.com (British Virgin Islands), Baixeturbo.org (U.K.) and Bajui.com (Canada). “The theft we're shining a light on today is detrimental not only to creators and inventors, but also to consumers, who may be deceived and even endangered by Notorious Markets engaging in counterfeiting and piracy,” said USTR Michael Froman in a separate news release. “The infringing marketplaces listed in the USTR report -- many of which exist online -- undermine this framework that benefits both content creators and consumers,” said MPAA CEO Chris Dodd in a news release. “These notorious markets enable the theft of content on a massive scale, diminishing U.S. competitiveness, discouraging reinvestment from creators, and ultimately harming the consumer experience.” IP groups filed comments earlier this year suggesting which markets should be added to the list (see 1502060043); the Electronic Frontier Foundation slammed the report as “unfair” to foreign countries like Vietnam and Russia (see 1502090037).

The issue of some domain registrars allegedly supporting online piracy was highlighted in the U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 out-of-cycle report on “notorious” IP markets. The report, which USTR released Thursday, reviews IP protections and other market practices in foreign countries and highlights those nations with the most problematic IP standards (see 1502060043). ICANN has an agreement with registrars that they should act when “notified of illegal activity,” including piracy and counterfeiting, said the report. “Some registrars, however, reportedly disobey court orders and other communications, including from government enforcement authorities,” said USTR. “Some registrars apparently even advertise to the online community that they will not take action against illicit activity, presumably to incentivize registrations by owners and operators of illicit sites.” The report singled out several infringing websites as particularly problematic, including 4shared.com (British Virgin Islands), Baixeturbo.org (U.K.) and Bajui.com (Canada). “The theft we're shining a light on today is detrimental not only to creators and inventors, but also to consumers, who may be deceived and even endangered by Notorious Markets engaging in counterfeiting and piracy,” said USTR Michael Froman in a separate news release. “The infringing marketplaces listed in the USTR report -- many of which exist online -- undermine this framework that benefits both content creators and consumers,” said MPAA CEO Chris Dodd in a news release. “These notorious markets enable the theft of content on a massive scale, diminishing U.S. competitiveness, discouraging reinvestment from creators, and ultimately harming the consumer experience.” IP groups filed comments earlier this year suggesting which markets should be added to the list (see 1502060043); the Electronic Frontier Foundation slammed the report as “unfair” to foreign countries like Vietnam and Russia (see 1502090037).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative unveiled its Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets in 2014 (here) on March 5. USTR Michael Froman lauded the report as another example of the Obama administration's increasing efforts to crack down on counterfeiting and piracy globally (here). The review includes a list of online marketplaces and physical markets across the globe that peddle counterfeit and pirated goods.