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- for criminal prosecution. This experience shows that when the Chinese Government chooses to exercise its political will to deal with an IPR problem, it can yield results.
- Russia – Russia acceded to the WIPO Internet Treaties, and has made progress combating software piracy. In addition, the Moscow City Government banned DVD/CD kiosks in the public transport system and pedestrian spaces, thus eliminating one major nexus of retail trade in pirated videos and music.
- Chile – Chile acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Chile also created a specialized brigade within the Chilean police force to handle IPR crimes.
- Egypt – In 2008, Egyptian courts issued the first jail sentences for IPR, in several criminal cases against defendants for software piracy.
- India – Due to the serious problem posed by counterfeit medicines, India passed the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Act 2008 that will increase penalties for spurious and adulterated pharmaceuticals. Additionally, India introduced an e-filing system for trademark and patent applications.
- Indonesia – A longstanding trademark dispute was resolved in 2008 after years of litigation.
- Lebanon – In 2008, Lebanon made significant progress on the long-standing problem of cable signal piracy, resulting in at least 80 percent of the 600-800 pirate cable operators signing licenses to become legitimate cable providers.
- Saudi Arabia – In 2008, Saudi Arabia established a website for its Violations Review Committee that provides information about copyright prosecutions and court cases and increases transparency for rightsholders.
- Sweden – In April 2009, a Swedish court convicted four defendants in connection with the PirateBay website, which was previously listed in the 2008 Special 301 Report as a notorious virtual market on the Internet. In addition, a new measure in Sweden permitting rightsholders in civil proceedings to obtain the identities of individuals implicated in the unauthorized exchange of digital content from ISPs entered into force.
- Vietnam – As part of its efforts to meet its obligations under the TRIPS Agreement, Vietnam passed a circular in 2008 to criminalize commercial scale copyright and trademark infringement.
The United States commends this positive progress by our trading partners. The United States will continue to work with these and other countries to achieve further improvements in IPR protection and enforcement during the coming year.
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