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Russia, U.S. Forge Trade Pact
by Winter Casey
The United States and Russia agreed in principle Friday on a trade agreement that addresses telecommunications and the enforcement of intellectual property rights -- a key step in Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization.
Russia must finalize all of its market-access agreements with individual countries before it can begin the multilateral negotiations necessary to join the WTO, according to the State Department. Russia has been seeking WTO accession since 1994.
Groups such as the Business Roundtable and Information Technology Industry Council have voiced support for the U.S.-Russia agreement and favor the WTO bid. Russia's weak IP protection and enforcement, however, remain a top concern for many groups.
The Electronic Industries Alliance said trade between the United States and Russia totaled some $19 billion in 2005. EIA hailed the sections of the deal that address IP enforcement in particular.
ITI President and CEO Rhett Dawson said that despite continued problems on that front in countries like Russia and Vietnam, by entering into such trade agreements, the nations will be held accountable to a set of rules they have agreed to follow.
But the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus of Montana, who currently serves as the panel's ranking Democrat, said in a statement that "Russia maintains unacceptable levels of piracy and counterfeiting, and these must be addressed before Congress can endorse Russia's WTO membership and grant permanent-normal-trade-relations status." The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over trade legislation.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance also said it would like to see Russia do more to improve IP enforcement, specifically related to optical discs and Internet infringement, before Russia joins the WTO.
Motion Picture Association of America CEO Dan Glickman said in a statement that his group is "cautiously optimistic that this bilateral agreement also addresses MPAA's long-held position" that Russia abide by the WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which outlines minimum IP protection rules for trading partners, "before Russia is permitted to accede to the WTO."
Keith Kupferschmid, vice president of intellectual property policy and enforcement at the Software and Information Industry Association, agreed that Russia needs to make progress in the IP arena before WTO membership. Adding IP provisions to trade agreements generally has been successful, he said.
On the other side of the spectrum is Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. She said the WTO's trade model has been a disaster. Countries that have adopted the rules have seen their economies worsen, she said. Intellectual property protections should not be included in trade agreements, she said.
Wallach also noted that many new Democratic lawmakers in Congress oppose the WTO status quo. Democrats, who will control the 110th Congress after scoring big wins in last week's election, may try to include labor and environmental provisions in pending trade deals, such as with Colombia and Peru. Dawson said that would be positive, and he also expects the party to call for Russia to have more stringent obligations in those areas.
Meanwhile, the House on Monday failed to pass, under expedited procedures, legislation that would make it easier for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization. GOP leaders had hoped to win passage of the Vietnam trade bill in both chambers before President Bush left for a trip to Vietnam this week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Copyright Controversy In Australia
Australia's Internet Industry Association is up in arms over proposed changes to the country's copyright laws. Changes are being "rushed through Parliament" that risk "making criminals out of everyday Australians," the group said.
According to the Australian Parliament's Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the bill includes several changes to copyright law as a result of a review that began last year. The measure includes provisions aimed at helping the country meet its intellectual property obligations under a trade deal with the United States by "implementing a liability scheme for certain activities relating to the circumvention of technological protection measures ... and by setting out a number of permissible exceptions to that liability scheme."
But IIA Chief Executive Peter Coroneos said: "The U.S. free-trade agreement does not require Australia to go down this path, and neither U.S. nor European law contain such far-reaching measures. We are at a total loss to understand how this policy has developed, who is behind it and why there is such haste in enacting it into law -- with little, if any, public debate."
Steve Metalitz of the International Intellectual Property Alliance said the copyright industry has faced a severe lack of enforcement in Australia, and the country is trying to address it with the legislation. In general, the group supports stronger criminal IP enforcement, he said. An overview of the bill can be found here.
In other Australian news, information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that electronic waste is emerging as a major problem within the country.
E-waste in Australia is estimated to be growing at more than three times the rate of general municipal waste. Australians are some of the biggest technology users in the world, according to the bureau. "E-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste types and the problem of e-waste is global," the group found.
Europe Continues To Push Microsoft Case
The European Commission said Wednesday that it has not received the "complete documentation" it requested from Microsoft to meet antitrust commitments in a long-running antitrust case.
Microsoft submitted a revised set of technical documentation July 19 in order to comply with a March 2004 commission decision requiring information that would allow "non-Microsoft work-group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers." In 2004, the commission also fined Microsoft more than $600 million for alleged anti-competitive behavior.
The commission said Wednesday that it has been reviewing documentation provided by Microsoft and expects remaining "deficiencies" to be remedied by Nov. 23. The commission noted that Microsoft had been ordered to provide all relevant information within four months.
Microsoft said it is committed to full compliance with the commission's demand.
Meanwhile, in the United Arab Emirates, Khaleej Times Online reports that a top official said this week that a ban on the use of Internet telephony in the Middle Eastern country will remain in place. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansour, the minister for government-sector development, denied reports that the ban could be lifted this year.
In other news, Claudia McMurray, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for oceans, environment and science, signed an agreement with Morocco that is expected to pave the way for collaborative training programs and joint research projects in science and technology. The State Department called the pact a "landmark" collaboration.
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