U.S. cites 52 countries for piracy

WASHINGTON -- Piracy of American movies, music and computer programs remains a problem worldwide with some of the worst offenses occurring in Ukraine, China, Russia and Brazil, the Bush administration said Monday. The administration named 52 trading partners to various violation lists as part of an annual report.

Ukraine was once again listed as the worst offender. The United States imposed $75 million worth of sanctions on Ukrainian imports in 2002 in the dispute. Those sanctions remain in effect.

Two other countries, China and Paraguay, were cited under a section of U.S. trade law that allows for special monitoring with the administration saying it will conduct a special review of China early next year.

Last month, China's Vice Premier Wu Yi pledged during a meeting in Washington that her government would undertake a series of actions to crack down the piracy of intellectual property.

The administration said that Paraguay would also be under special monitoring because of problems it is having with weak enforcement of copyright and trademark protections.

The administration also announced out-of-cycle reviews for Israel this summer and Malaysia, Poland and Thailand in the fall.

Russia and Brazil were among 15 trading partners that the administration placed on a priority watch list signifying that the U.S. government feels they are failing to provide adequate intellectual property protection or enforcement.

Others placed on the list were Argentina, the Bahamas, Egypt, the European Union, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Turkey.

The Motion Picture Association of America praised the administration's efforts in the new report, saying it was particularly pleased to see China, Taiwan, Russia and Brazil singled out for special monitoring.

"American films and TV programs enjoy immense popularity all over the world and they contribute mightily to the U.S. economy," said Jack Valenti, president of the movie group. "Protection of these valuable assets must be a priority to ensure the industry's continued success."

The U.S. film industry will lose between $3 billion and $3.5 billion this year from piracy, the movie association estimated. It listed the biggest offenders as Russia, with $275 million in estimated losses; China, $178 million; Brazil, $120 million, and Taiwan, $42 million.

The administration placed another 34 nations on a lower-level watch list because of U.S. concerns about the failure to address particular intellectual property concerns.

These countries were: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

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