[Infowarrior] - New US-Russia "hotline" for.....copyrights?

[Richard Forno]

So does this run from Kremlin to the WH?  And what happens if one party
picks up the wrong hotline phone?   :)

-rf


Original URL: 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/28/us_russia_copyright_hotline/
Russia and US set up copyright hotline
By OUT-LAW.COM
Published Tuesday 28th November 2006 10:29 GMT

The US and Russia will set up a copyright hotline so that information about
copyright infringement can be swapped between the two nations. The US says
that it will train Russia in how to battle copyright theft.

These are just two elements of the an emerging agreement between Russia and
the US which Russia hopes will pave the way for its entry into the World
Trade Organisation (WTO). The US is thought to have blocked Russia's entry
on several grounds, one of which was its record on copyright abuse.

Russia's copyright protection laws are weaker than those in the US and many
European countries, as evidenced by the fact that controversial music
website Allofmp3.com claims to operate legally in Russia but would be shut
down by now in many other countries.

Russia has recently undertaken partial reform of its copyright laws in a bid
to have the US back its entry into the WTO. It is the largest economy in the
world not already a member of the body.

OUT-LAW has seen an agreement between the US and Russia which outlines
action to be taken by Russia to comply with copyright protection in the
US/European mould.

In the agreement, between US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Russian
Minister of Trade and Economic Development German Gref, Russia agrees to
conduct surprise raids at any time of the day or night, to ban its military
facilities from duplicating copyrighted material, and to investigate
Russia-based web companies distributing copyright-protected music.

"I am pleased that we have concluded this important agreement in connection
with Russia's WTO accession negotiations," said Schwab. "This is a strong
and far-reaching commercial agreement that meets the high standards of
President Bush¹s market-opening trade agenda and moves Russia closer to full
integration into the global, rules-based trading system."

Intellectual property rights have been seen as a major stumbling block to US
support for Russia's entry into the WTO. The US is home to many of the
world's major entertainment companies. Agricultural tariffs have also played
a vital role in negotiations.

The deal was struck in time for US President George Bush's meeting with
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
meeting last week. "Today, Vladimir and I are pleased to report that after a
long set of negotiations, Representative Gref and Ambassador Schwab have
signed agreements that will be good for the United States and good for
Russia ­ and that is we support Russia's accession into the WTO," said Bush
at that meeting.

The agreement will also allow for the duty free importing into Russia of IT
equipment such as computers and semiconductors, a major piece of tariff
reform that will open up the Russian market for US manufacturers.

See: The agreement 
(http://www.ustr.gov/assets/World_Regions/Europe_Middle_East/Russia_the_NIS/
asset_upload_file148_10011.pdf) (6 page/309KB PDF)

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