RI in U.S. watch list on copyright piracy

RI in U.S. watch list on copyright piracy

WASHINGTON (Reuter): The United States Wednesday said Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Ecuador were failing to live up to international obligations to protect copyrights from piracy.

As a result, said U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, the United States plans to file World Trade Organization (WTO) complaints against those countries.

But Indonesia remained only in the watch list of the Trade Representative's office. This watch list included Argentina, Egypt, the European Union, Greece, India, Paraguay, Russia and Turkey.

The action comes out of an annual U.S. review of how countries around the world protect copyrights and other intellectual property, a major revenue source for the U.S. economy, from piracy.

"The Special 301 annual review is one of the most effective instruments in our trade policy arsenal," Barshefsky said in a statement.

"It is much more than an in-depth review. It provides a direct route to press countries to improve their IPR (intellectual property rights) practices."

The review said 46 trading partners denied adequate protection against intellectual property piracy and failed to give fair access to their markets for U.S. products.

Barshefsky said the United States also may initiate WTO cases against Greece and Luxembourg in the near future if they fail to take steps to meet their obligations under an international agreement that protects copyrights and other intellectual property.

The Trade Representatives' office said Denmark and Sweden had not implemented their obligations under the WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to provide provisional relief in civil enforcement proceedings.

It said Ireland has not changed its copyright law to comply with TRIPS obligations and that Ecuador has failed to meet its obligations in a number of areas.

China, which in the past has topped the U.S. list of copyright violators, will be closely watched to be sure it complies with a bilateral agreement on intellectual property protection. The report noted significant progress in China on copyright protection.

In a separate trade report, a presidential commission urged the U.S. government to pay attention to the impact of foreign exchange markets on U.S. trade.

The recommendation was one of several made by the Commission on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy on U.S. trade policy with Asia.

"The commission recommends that the U.S. government should pay careful attention to the impact of exchange rates on U.S. commerce," the report said. "It should be particularly vigilant to ensure that foreign governments do not manipulate their exchange rates to achieve competitive advantage."

U.S. manufacturers, particularly car makers, have complained that the strong U.S. dollar and weak Japanese yen have hurt their competitiveness in global markets while giving Japanese manufacturers an edge. A strong dollar makes U.S. goods more expensive, while a weak yen makes Japanese goods cheaper.

The commission, comprising business executives, academics and labor representatives, recommended that the U.S. government consider negotiating a comprehensive market agreement with Japan to eliminate formal and informal barriers to trade and investment. The agreement also should include common rules and enforcement measures on anti-competitive business practices.

"By almost any measure, the Japanese economy is the most closed to foreign products, services and investment among the major industrial nations," the report said.

"Japan's persistent failure to consume more of what the rest of the world produces has been a brake on global economic growth," it said.