04 May 2009
Russia Tackles Intellectual Property Piracy, But More Work Needed
Illegal movies, music and software slowing World Trade Organization bid
Washington — The U.S. government’s top trade agency and industry groups say the Russian government is doing a better job in both legislating and enforcing rules against the illegal copying of movies, music, computer software and other types of intellectual property. But, they say, even better enforcement must be achieved to hasten Russia’s bid for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In reports issued in March and April, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the government’s key agency for resolving bilateral trade disputes and negotiating global trade accords, and the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a private sector coalition of U.S. copyright industries, say online and other intellectual property piracy is costing U.S. industry nearly $3 billion annually.
Russia’s implementation of commitments to fight optical disc and Internet piracy, protect against the unfair commercial use of undisclosed data for pharmaceutical products, increase criminal penalties for piracy and counterfeiting and strengthen its border enforcement against trade in pirated goods “will be essential to completing” the WTO accession process, USTR said in a report issued April 30.
In a separate report on foreign trade barriers, issued March 31, USTR said that Russia’s production of optical discs appeared to be “far in excess of domestic demand, raising concerns regarding optical disc piracy.”
Particularly problematic, says IIPA, is that Russian-based Web sites are notorious for their flagrant copyright violations involving music downloads. Allofmp3.com was one such site that was taken down, but a nearly identical site surfaced in its place and has yet to be removed. Both Web sites were operated by the same company, IIPA said.
IIPA further argues that the lack of consistency in law enforcement is crippling Russia’s ability to effectively address IPR problems. The IIPA report explains that deterrent criminal penalties are not being imposed against those who use illegally obtained discs and those who distribute such discs. Far fewer criminal cases of piracy were tried in 2008 than in 2007, and many observers cite the lengthy investigative process as a roadblock to efficient prosecution, the report said.
There are some notable exceptions, IIPA said. The industry group said that Russia has begun to prosecute serious repeat offenders and hand out prison terms to such individuals, as well as conduct searches to root out gross offenders.
“In 2008, the Russian government conducted some significant raids and seizures, and the Russian police continue to take actions against copyright infringers, particularly with respect to street vendor piracy and companies involved with the installation and use of pirated software,” IIPA said.
Also, while publishers are having continuing problems with illegal downloading on the Internet of textbooks and popular books, IIPA said that the Business Software Alliance (BSA) reports that the Russian government has responded seriously to the strong market demand for legal software, most notably in the education system. In May of 2008, the BSA estimated that the software piracy rate dropped from 80 percent in 2006 to 73 percent in 2007— the largest improvement of any country. The BSA credits this decrease to software legalization programs, government engagement, user education and enforcement. Police, however, continue to be reluctant to conduct raids against medium- and large-scale companies, it said.
But the reports also hail recent legislative initiatives by the Russian parliament that will allow Russian customs officials the right to seize suspected counterfeit goods and hold them for up to seven days while determining their authenticity.
Enforcement, the reports say, will be critical to gauging Russia’s progress on IPR.
The full texts of the USTR report on trade barriers and the USTR report on IPR enforcement are available on the USTR Web site.
The full text of the IIPA report is available on the group’s Web site.
