13 Countries On US "Priority Watch List" For Copyright Piracy 277
hapworth writes "The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has submitted a report on the top 40 countries guilty of piracy to The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which is preparing for its annual 'Special 301' report. This report describes the adequacy and effectiveness of US trading partners' protection of intellectual property rights. Among the 40 countries suggested by the IIPA for the watch list, 13 were recommended for placement on the USTR's 'Priority Watch List.' These countries include Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Spain, Ukraine, and Vietnam. While previous reports have focused on physical piracy, this year's emphasizes cracking down on online piracy."
Where's the Homeland Cred (Score:5, Interesting)
According to the BSA, the "dollar losses" right here in the U.S. are highest overall. Why didn't we make it on to our own list?
Human Trafficking (Score:5, Interesting)
I ignore the US on these and many world issues, because they only complain when Oil or money is involved, and only pass laws that increase profit for the few.
Not true; those issues--and complaining, for that matter--just get more press. We put out a watch list for human trafficking, too, as part of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. (Google it, or look at River of Innocents [riverofinnocents.com] for a good primer on the issue).
The US does care about money and oil, of course--money and oil pay for everything and make everything work, and we want things to work and influential donors care about those things, so so does the government. But those aren't the only things we care about. The Global Health Initiatives, for example, have tremendously increased the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people, yet they rarely make it into the news. For some reason it's not as sexy to prevent Malaria as it is to do another story on Charlie Sheen.