US urged to keep Philippines on IPR watch list
An intellectual property group is urging the United States to keep the Philippines on its watch list of countries where copyright protection is an ongoing concern.
The US trade representative upgraded the country to its ordinary watch list from its priority watch list in 2006 citing improved enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Flo, a black labrador retriever, trains her nose on pirated DVD being sold at a shop in a Manila shopping mall in 2007. An intellectual property group is urging the United States to keep the Philippines on its watch list of countries where copyright protection is an ongoing concern.
(AFP/File/Joel Nito)
The rate of successful prosecutions for piracy remained low, the the Intellectual Property Coalition said in a statement Tuesday.
It cited “stringent rules” on evidence required to prosecute alleged violators.
“As a a consequence, police investigations had been often thwarted at the prosecutor level, thereby laying to waste countless hours and huge resources incurred for surveillance, evidence gathering, and other investigative efforts,” the group said in a statement.
It also accused certain unnamed law enforcers of taking bribes during raids on establishments selling counterfeit or pirated products.
The coalition also alleged there had been little or no movement by the government to dedicate courts to hear intellectual property rights cases.
The group also said the government had not moved to pass laws that would enforce Manila’s treaty obligations regarding intellectual property rights violations committed on the internet.
The group said it sent a position paper earlier this month to the US trade representative.
The coalition includes Filipino musicians and publishers, film distributors, software companies, and business groups including the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.
Category: Philippines
