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China Could Face U.S. Piracy Sanctions
by William New
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) this week cited countries for questionable protection of intellectual property, and implied within that list is the threat of sanctions on China if that nation slips in its enforcement of bilateral agreements on intellectual property.
By continuing to monitor China under Section 306 of the 1974 Trade Act, the United States retains the leverage of using trade sanctions if it sees fit.
The list of countries is called the "Special 301." This year, USTR designated 51 countries for reviews of varying degrees, singling out Ukraine for the harshest scrutiny.
In addition, the office announced that "out-of-cycle" reviews will be conducted for Bahamas, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines, Poland and Thailand. While not listing Mexico, USTR said in a Tuesday statement that it would conduct a review later in the year "to assess whether there has been an improvement in enforcement efforts in Mexico, specifically whether raids against intellectual-property piracy operations have led to prosecutions and convictions."
USTR also noted Brazil and Taiwan, among others, for "serious enforcement problems." On a positive note, Korea was moved to the lowest level of scrutiny for its efforts to strengthen enforcement and develop legislation that would provide exclusive transmission rights for sound recordings and performances, USTR said. Macau was removed the list altogether for its efforts.
"Piracy is the largest trade barrier for the software industry," Business Software Alliance President Robert Holleyman said, noting that it costs the industry more than $11 billion a year. "To combat this growing trend, it is important that we have the government's help in identifying countries and regions that continue to allow software piracy and theft in violation of their international treaty obligations."
Elsewhere on the intellectual property front, Viacom International, the entertainment company that operates MTV music television, lost a fight for the rights to the Internet domain name mtv.com.sg, according to the Straits Times.
In the first case heard by the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service established this year, Viacom argued that a Taiwanese firm was using the name in bad faith and profiting from it. The sole panelist found the word "mtv" to be descriptive and generic, and said the company failed to prove it has "clear or unequivocal" exclusive rights to it.
Telecom Group Cautious On eEurope Plan
The European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) strongly supports the European Union's proposal to update its eEurope strategy for improving online communications in Europe. But ETNO warned of the policy challenges the industry faces in implementing the eEurope plan.
"Promoting inter-platform [infrastructure] competition in electronic communications will broaden technologies, markets and choice for consumers and operators," ETNO Director Michael Bartholomew said in a statement issued at ETNO's general assembly held in Riga, Latvia, on April 25-26. "Policymakers need to trust the private sector and market forces to achieve this."
EU leaders will gather in Seville, Spain, on June 21-22 to relaunch the eEurope initiative.
In other European news, government, industry and nonprofit officials from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean met in Seville late last week to establish a long-term partnership to build an "open, inclusive and democratic information society."
The new program, called @LIS (Alliance for the Information Society), is aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation on policy, regulatory and standardization frameworks in areas such as telecommunications, e-commerce and e-government, according to an EU release. It also seeks to boost interconnections between research networks and communities among the regions.
The heads of state of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to note the program at their summit on May 17-18 in Madrid, Spain.
Also in Europe, the European Digital Media Association (EdiMA) has issued a white paper on digital-rights management, calling on content owners to use legitimate distributors to curtail music piracy and "give consumers an honest choice." European legislators currently debating technologies for managing digital rights also may use the paper, EdiMA said.
U.S., India Begin Cyber-Security Talks
U.S. and Indian officials met this week in New Delhi, India, to discuss a new initiative to combat cyber terrorism in both countries, according to the Economic Times of India. The initiative will take aim at attacks on computer networks and critical information systems.
An 18-member high-level U.S. delegation, led by Linc Bloomfield, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, met with Indian officials. The goal was to begin shaping the initiative by developing an action plan. The U.S. delegation includes academics as well as officials from the FBI, National Security Agency and State Department.
President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the initiative last fall. It will build on India's growing software capabilities and the intelligence and technological capabilities of the United States to trace cyber threats to both countries, the article said. The biggest threats to India come from Pakistani groups, the article said.
In another joint government effort, a second meeting of the Indo-U.S. Defense Policy Group will be held in Washington on May 20-23, the Financial Express (India) reported this week. The first meeting of the group, which is focused on military-to-military cooperation, was in December. Because U.S. unilateral sanctions on exports to India recently were lifted, India may seek new high-tech military equipment from the United States, the publication said.
Western Nations Seeking Eastern Deals
Western governments including the United States, Canada and the European Union have been actively sending business-development teams to several key countries where they might land new business.
The U.S. Commerce Department led one such trip to China, with a stop in Japan, and returned last week. A high-level group from the European Union, led by enterprise and information society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen, immediately preceded that U.S. group, which was led by Commerce Secretary Donald Evans.
Meanwhile, Canada was busy in the other great prospective Asian market: India. Last week, International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew led representatives of more than 130 companies to Mumbai and Delhi. The trip was Canada's first trade mission to India that involved a private-sector delegation.
GAO Reports On E-Commerce Status
A new General Accounting Office report entitled "International Electronic Commerce: Definitions and Policy Implications" makes several findings that show the unevenness of e-commerce policy worldwide.
For instance, nations do not always agree on the meaning of "electronic commerce," the U.S. government does not produce a statistic on international e-commerce, personal privacy and security issues remain international challenges, e-signatures are not widely recognized yet, legal questions abound, and online transactions still face numerous physical barriers.
Former FTC Commissioner Gets Lucky With Irish
Terry Calvani, a former FTC commissioner, has been appointed as a commissioner of the Irish Competition Authority. Calvani was a commissioner at the FTC from 1983 to 1990, and was acting chairman from 1985 to 1986.
"This appointment illustrates dramatically the extent to which antitrust has become a truly global endeavor," current FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said. "Reaching beyond its borders into the global antitrust pool to select Commissioner Calvani will enable the Irish Competition Authority and Irish consumers to benefit from this experience."
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