Not-so-shocking news of the day: Thailand remains on U.S. piracy watch list
The “2011 Special 301 Report,” released by the U.S. Trade Representative, lumps Thailand in with 11 other nations accused of not doing enough to crack down on IP theft. These are: Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela.
The report says 42 of 77 nations reviewed were either actively aiding intellectual piracy, or were doing too little to fight it, with the Priority Watch List reserved for the worst offenders.
“Piracy and counterfeiting, including illegal downloading of pirated works from the Internet, and the theft of cable and satellite signals, remain rampant in Thailand, and the motion picture industry has reported a significant increase in unauthorized camcording of motion pictures in theaters,” says the report.
Nobody in Thailand will be surprised by the news. In fact, we’d be shocked if the country didn’t make the Priority Watch List.
Pirated goods like DVDs and software are still easily purchased in Bangkok markets and malls, most in plain view of the authorities.
Canada’s repeated inclusion, on the other hand, will likely raise a few eyebrows.
“Unfortunately, Canadian efforts in 2010 to enact long-awaited copyright legislation were unsuccessful,” says the report.
Ironically, cables made public by Wikileaks include claims by U.S. diplomats that Canadian city Montreal has literally become a "Bangkok of the West."
This is due in part to its “questionable sex trade activities” and “brazen video piracy using hidden camcorders in theaters,” reports the Toronto Sun.
India, though credited in the 2011 Special 301 Report for making great strides in addressing its intellectual property rights issues, "continues to have a weak legal framework, and ineffective overall IPR enforcement persists."
To read the full U.S. Trade Representative 2011 Special 301 Report click here.
