The Office of the US Trade Representative’s Special 301 Report released on Friday included Taiwan in a list of nations for online intellectual property rights (IPR) piracy.
While Taiwan was removed from the report’s watch list in 2009, the latest edition indicated that there is still rampant piracy in the nation.
Illicit streaming devices “continued to post a direct threat to content creators, sports leagues and live performances, as well as legitimate streaming, on-demand and over-the-top media service providers,” the report said.
Photo: Sean Chao, Taipei Times
The Special 301 Report is an annual review conducted by the office under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on the global state of IPR protection and enforcement. It identifies trade barriers in other nations faced by US companies and products in IPR, such as copyright, patents and trademarks.
Regarding online IPR violations, the report said “the proliferation of camcords” continues to be an urgent trade problem.
“Illicit camcording is the primary source of unauthorized copies of newly released movies found online,” the office said.
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam were also named for putting up trade barriers through rampant IPR piracy through illicit streaming devices.
“Economies like Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Taiwan do not effectively criminalize unauthorized camcording in theaters,” the report said.
The office urged those nations to adopt laws and enforcement practices to prevent illicit camcording.
The office recognized Taiwan’s enactment of an amendment last year to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) that has provided a mechanism for early resolution of potential patent disputes.
The law was designed to notify interested parties of marketing requests or approvals for follow-on pharmaceuticals in a manner that could allow them to resolve patent disputes as early as possible, the office said.
China remained on the report’s “priority watch list” for the 14th consecutive year.
The list identifies countries that have the most onerous or egregious acts, policies, or practices in IPR violation.
China’s continued presence on the priority watch list reflected its failure “to implement promises to strengthen IP [intellectual property] protection, open China’s market to foreign investment, allow the market a decisive role in allocating resources and refrain from government interference in private sector technology transfer decisions,” the report said.
China was also placed on a Section 306 monitoring list for an alleged move to force foreign companies to transfer technology.
The office placing a country in the Section 306 monitoring list could be seen as Washington issuing an ultimatum, as the US could take retaliatory measures against its trading partner if progress is not made.
In addition to China, the office also included Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Ukraine and Venezuela on the priority watch list.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
RSS