U.S. steps up pressure on RI on copyrights piracy<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The United States renewed calls on Thursday for Indonesia to
\nprotect intellectual property rights, citing that piracy had not
\nonly cost U.S. companies hundreds of millions of dollars annually
\nbut also discouraged potential investors from coming to
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and
\nCompliance of the U.S. Department of Commerce William H. Lash III
\nsaid that American firms lost up to "a quarter of a billion
\ndollars" a year due to the unauthorized production of software,
\nDVDs and films in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He said, piracy did not only hurt U.S. companies but also
\nIndonesian companies which sell authorized goods.<\/p>\n
"While (the piracy) injures American firms, it also injures
\nIndonesian firms who are trying to compete, trying to feed their
\nfamilies, trying to pay taxes, by selling legitimate software,
\nlegitimate films," Lash stressed after a meeting with Minister of
\nIndustry and Trade Rini M.S. Soewandi here.<\/p>\n
Lash is the most senior U.S. governmental official to come to
\nIndonesia to address the copyright issue after Indonesia started
\nimplementing the new copyright law in July 2003, which aims to
\nstrengthen copyright protection in Indonesia. The law says, among
\nother things, that owners of shopping plazas risk being jailed
\nfor allowing vendors to sell pirated goods.<\/p>\n
As evident today, the law only briefly deters people from
\nselling pirated goods.<\/p>\n
Lash said rampant piracy would have a big impact on the
\ninvestment climate as investors might think twice before
\ninvesting here.<\/p>\n
"Indonesia is a very good friend, a good partner to the U.S.
\nWe want our good friend, a good partner like Indonesia to do
\nwell, ... and get high quality investments," said Lash.<\/p>\n
Separately, director-general for international cooperation at
\nthe Ministry of Industry and Trade, Pos M. Hutabarat, said that
\ndespite the introduction of a new, tougher law, piracy was still
\nrampant in Indonesia due to weak law enforcement and the people's
\nlack of awareness on the implications of the issue.<\/p>\n
He said the minister would soon start a campaign urging people
\nnot to buy pirated products.<\/p>\n
Aside from the IPR, Lash and Rini also talked on several other
\nissues, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN) integration, investment in Indonesia's telecommunications
\nsector, bioterrorism, textiles and shrimp export to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Lash said that many foreign investors were interested in
\nIndonesia's telecommunications sector, believing the sector had
\nhuge potential for growth.<\/p>\n
In regards to the huge U.S. agricultural subsidy -- which has
\nbeen criticized as a reflection of the U.S.' unfairness toward
\npoor nations -- Lash said that the U.S. had always been willing
\nto talk about reducing its agricultural subsidy.<\/p>\n
The U.S., European Union and Japan have persistently
\nmaintained huge subsidies for their agricultural sectors at the
\nexpense of poor nations. This was one of the reasons behind the
\ncollapse of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Cancun,
\nMexico last year.<\/p>\n
"What we're trying to do is bring people back to the table and
\nthat was Zoellick's agenda," Lash said.<\/p>\n
He referred to the recent letter sent by U.S. Trade
\nRepresentative Robert Zoellick to trade ministers of all WTO
\ncountry members, calling for the restart of WTO talks.<\/p>\n
According to Lash and Pos, Zoellick is going to meet the ASEAN
\ntrade ministers in Singapore on Feb. 13 regarding this issue.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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