Malta was not included in
a list 33 countries which are being monitored by the United States of America’s
President George W. Bush administration where piracy of copyrighted material is
concerned.
Piracy of copyrighted material is relatively common in the island, with
Police often seizing counterfeit CDs, DVDs and videogames among other material.
China, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Egypt, India, Israel, Lebanon, Thailand,
Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela were placed on a targeted "priority watch
list" for failing to sufficiently protect American producers of music,
movies and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy, reported The
Washington Post, while 31 countries were placed on lower level monitoring
lists, indicating the concerns about copyright violations in those nations did not
warrant the highest level of scrutiny.
The countries placed on a lower-level watch list were Belarus, Belize,
Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, South Korea, Kuwait, Lithuania,
Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Being on the "priority watch list" could eventually lead to
economic sanctions if the administration decides to bring trade cases before the
World Trade Organization (WTO).
The designations occurred in a report that the administration is required to
provide Congress each year highlighting problems American companies are facing
around the world with copyright piracy, which they contend is costing them
billions of dollars in lost sales annually, added The Washington Post.
See also:
Pirated software seized; Siggiewi theft solved -
Mar 25, 2007 - 4:39:09 PM
