Cina finisce sulla lista nera dei Paesi che violano copyright

[FaGal]

China on US blacklist for 'copyright abuses'
www.gulf-daily-news.com - April 30, 2005


WASHINGTON: The United States said yesterday it was putting China on a blacklist of countries guilty in its view of "rampant" copyright abuses and warned that WTO action could follow.

The US Trade Representative's office, unveiling an annual report on measures taken by countries around the world to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), said China was being put on a "Priority Watch List".

The "Special 301" report "concludes that infringement levels remain unacceptably high throughout China, in spite of Beijing's efforts to reduce them", the USTR said in a statement.

Acting US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier acknowledged that China's leadership was trying to curb piracy of US goods.

But he added: "China must take action to address rampant piracy and counterfeiting, including increasing the number of criminal IPR cases and further opening its market to legitimate copyright and other goods.

"We will work closely with US industry and other stakeholders, with an eye toward utilising WTO procedures to bring China into compliance with its trade obligations," he said.

Officials said the reference to legal action at the World Trade Organisation was a sign of US exasperation over the issue, following the conclusion of a special USTR review of Chinese IPR protection.

"The language is pretty strong compared to what's been said in the past. This is the first time that the WTO link is being made," one official said.

China is under growing pressure from foreign governments to clean up widespread IPR theft ranging from pirated software and DVDs to fake copies of brand-name clothes and shoes.

The Communist government admitted on Thursday that copyright or IPR infringement is "very serious" in some sectors of its economy, but said it faced a difficult task trying to improve protection.

"We only have over 20 years history in IPR protection so many people still don't understand the concept of IPR," Zhang Qin, deputy commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, said.

"To enable those people to understand IPR in a very short time is a difficult task," he said, after the release of a government white paper outlining "new progress" in copyright protection.

The Chinese government launched a one-year campaign late last year on IPR across the country.

From 2000 to 2004, police cracked 5,305 criminal cases of IPR infringement, involving nearly 2.2 billion yuan ($265 million) and arrested 7,100 suspects, the white paper said.

But during a visit to China last week, US Assistant Secretary of Commerce William Lash said "piracy is getting worse".

The problem was costing US, European and Japanese manufacturers $60 billion in annual losses, he said, calling for "more vigorous enforcement" and "more people going to jail".

il report a cui si fa cenno lo trovate qui
http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library...ion_Index.html

[FaGal]

Asian nations top copyright blacklist
news.ninemsn.com.au - April 30, 2005


China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines lead a blacklist of Asian copyright violators released by the US, which wants tough action to combat piracy and counterfeiting of US goods.

The office of the US Trade Representative says Ukraine, remains in the category of worst offenders on copyright infringement $A96 million in sanctions still in place.

The office says 14 nations have been placed on a priority watch list, with China added to the list this year.

The others are Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela.





USTR Report on Effectiveness of IPRs Calls for Tough Actions Against Piracy & Counterfeiting
www.ag-ip-news.com - April 30, 2005


WASHINGTON - The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) released on Saturday its annual "Special 301" report on the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection around the world.

Despite progress by some countries, the report finds that weak IPR protection continues to be a serious problem and calls for tough actions to combat global piracy and counterfeiting, a press release by the USTR stated.

The report presents the results of USTR's special Out-of-Cycle Review of China's IP regime, and concludes that infringement levels remain unacceptably high throughout China, in spite of Beijing's efforts to reduce them.

"Strong IPR protection and enforcement at home and abroad are critical for the success of America's innovative economy and are top priorities for this Administration," said Acting US Trade Representative, Peter Allgeier.

"We are committed to vigilantly enforcing IP laws and procedures and to working with our trading partners around the world to effectively protect the ideas, brands, and inventions of our businesses and entrepreneurs," Allgeier added.

"This year, we are elevating China to the Priority Watch List for failure to effectively protect IPRs and to meet its commitment to significantly reduce infringement levels, despite efforts by China's senior leadership to do so," Allgeier pointed out.

In its 2004 “Special 301” report, USTR announced that it would conduct an Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) in early 2005 to evaluate China's implementation of its commitments to significantly reduce IPR infringement levels.

This year's “Special 301” report also announced OCRs for the following seven countries: Ukraine, Russia, Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, the European Union, and Saudi Arabia.

In addition, the “Special 301” report notes that Russia remains on the Priority Watch List this year due to continuing problems with Russia's IPR regime, including weak IPR enforcement and lack of data protection.

The Administration is working globally, regionally, and bilaterally, using all available tools, to establish strong legal protections for IP, promote effective enforcement, and solve problems identified in this year's “Special 301” report - including piracy of copyrighted works in Ukraine, China, Paraguay, Brazil, Russia, India, Thailand, Bulgaria, Pakistan, and other markets and inadequate protection against unfair commercial use for test data submitted by drug companies to health authorities in Israel, Turkey, and elsewhere.

These efforts are delivering real results. The “Special 301” report notes the improvements and progress that several countries have made in addressing IPR-related concerns identified in previous Special 301 reports. For example, Indonesia and the Philippines have recently passed optical disc legislation that will help combat optical media piracy, Malaysia and Taiwan have begun to take more enforcement actions, and India passed a new ordinance to improve patent protection.

This year's report lists fourteen trading partners on the Priority Watch List. These countries are: Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela.

Thirty-six trading partners are placed on the Watch List, meriting bilateral attention to address the underlying IPR problems.

These countries or economies are: Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, European Union, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.