US group pushes Manila’s inclusion in list of IPR hot spots

A US-BASED intellectual property alliance has asked the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to place the Philippines in the Priority Watch List of piracy hot spots.

In a statement posted on its website, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) said it recommends the Philippines and 12 other countries to be placed in the Priority Watch List of the USTR’s 2011 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Rights.

The Philippines has been a fixture in the lower-level Watch List since 2005.

Besides the Philippines, IIPA said it wants Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam in this year’s Priority Watch List.

According to the USTR, countries in the Priority Watch List “do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.”

The Special 301 Report recommends US-imposed trade barriers or sanctions for trading partners perceived lacking in IPR protection.

“Notwithstanding the enactment of a good anti-camcording law, the Philippine government has not effectively implemented this new law or addressed other problems identified in IIPA’s previous reports and . . . out-of-cycle review submission,” the alliance said in its 2011 Special 301 submission to the USTR.

“With a new President and cabinet in the Philippines since June 2010, IIPA hoped that a new era would also emerge in the area of copyright protection, taking care of unfinished business left by the previous administration and congress. Unfortunately, much remains to be done,” IIPA said.

“Copyright piracy remains a significant barrier to legitimate trade in copyright materials in the Philippines, causing losses to all the industries. Piracy phenomena abound, including growing P2P [peer-to-peer] and other Internet-based piracy (and increasing mobile piracy), software end-user piracy in businesses, illegal camcording of movies in theaters, book and journal piracy, retail shop and mall piracy, pay TV theft, and some remaining pirate optical disc production being imported or exported,” IIPA added. –Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Reporter, Manila Times

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