Russian piracy is on the rise
Date: May 01, 2005Source: Computer Crime Research Center
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Two senators known for carefully taking public stands have stepped into the intellectual property arena by calling for the U.S. to get tough on Russia and China for allegedly inadequate IP protection.
Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) introduced a resolution on Tuesday -- World Intellectual Property Day -- criticizing the two countries for "failing to enforce (IP) laws."
Stating that "piracy in Russia and China is open, notorious and permitted to operate without meaningful hindrance," the resolution insisted that "the United States Government must convey to these countries that failure to act will have political and economic consequences for relationships with the United States."
While not specifying any consequences, the resolution implies that trade sanctions could be among them. "The administration should ensure that action is taken against any country with which the United States shares mutual commitments under the (World Trade Organization), such as China, when the country fails to live up to its WTO commitments."
In a Senate floor statement, Lugar said, "China has become a leading exporter of counterfeit and pirated goods to the world.... At the April 2004 meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, the Chinese government indicated that it would undertake a series of actions to significantly reduce infringement throughout the country (yet) piracy rates in China have remained at extremely high levels for the past decade.
"Piracy in Russia continues to be a growing problem," Lugar continued. "Only a few pirate optical disc factories existed in Russia in the late 1990s. Reports indicate that there are now over 30 such plants producing pirated products in Russia, ruining the Russian market for American right-holders and substantially undermining other markets in Europe as well. The Russian government has made many promises to solve this problem, but meaningful results have yet to occur."
The turnover of Russian pirated music recordings exceeds $312 billion for 2004, Russian Culture Minister Alexander Sokolov said Tuesday at a briefing dedicated to his meeting with the president of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, John Kennedy, Interfax reports.
At the meeting Sokolov and Kennedy discussed existing problems, in particular piracy in Russia. They also discussed legal measures that might help combat the causes and what legal bills the Culture Ministry plans to put forward.
“The Americans were only interested in one thing — when will pirated music products stop being sold on Moscow’s streets,” Interfax quoted Deputy Culture Minister Leonid Nadirov as saying.
“We told them that we are working towards reducing the amount of pirated recordings,” Nadirov said. He added that Moscow has already gained some positive experience of working against bootleggers.
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