Copyright piracy watch list
Piracy of copyrighted movies, music, video games and other entertainment has reached “alarming levels” in Canada, China, Mexico, Russia and Spain, members of the US Congress said on Wednesday.
The Congresional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, made up of more than 70 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, placed the five countries at the top of their “2009 International Piracy Watch List.”
“These countries stand out because of the scope and depth of their piracy problems, which cost the US copyright industries and the millions of Americans who work in these companies billions of dollars,” the caucus said.
“Piracy has reached alarming levels” in these countries, it said , and is “largely the result of a lack of political will to confront the problem.”
The caucus said the Chinese government “has permitted piracy to fully contaminate the online marketplace via an array of nefarious illegal websites, file storage sites (and) user generated content sites.”
China’s largest Internet search engine, Baidu, is “responsible for the vast majority of illegal downloading of music in China, deriving significant advertising revenue in connection with its music service,” it said.
“This is just one of the many examples of Chinese sites whose entire business model relies on providing access to infringing materials.”
The caucus said that “despite the Chinese government’s many public assurances that it is committed to combating copyright piracy, little action has been taken against infringing online activities.”
It said Russia had made “some progress” in respecting intellectual property rights over the past few years but “much work remains before we can support Russia’s accession to the rules-based World Trade Organization.”
“We remain deeply concerned that Canada has failed to update its copyright laws to provide for online enforcement, making it a safe haven for Internet pirates,” the caucus said. “Canada’s enforcement record falls short of what should be expected of our neighbor and largest trading partner.
“Internet piracy in Spain has reached an epidemic level, and rights holders lack the necessary tools to enforce their rights on the Internet,” itadded.
“Peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy in Spain is widely perceived as an acceptable cultural phenomenon, and the situation is exacerbated by a government policy that has essentially decriminalized illicit P2P file sharing.”
Copyright piracy also remains a severe problem in Mexico with only a handful of state governments interested in fighting illegal trade, the caucus said, and an absence of penalities to deter copyright pirates.
“Just as we don’t allow cars to be stolen off the lots of Ford or GM dealerships, we cannot allow movies, music and computer programs to be stolen from motion picture studios, recording studios and software manufacturers,” said Congressman Adam Schiff, the caucus co-chair.
“The US copyright industry deserves the same protection under the law,” said Schiff, a Democrat from California whose district includes several major movie studios.
Loading ...