harm." The United States urges Romania to encourage its prosecutors to prosecute IPR cases vigorously as well as encourage its judges to impose deterrent-level sentences against IPR infringers, and to remove delays and obstacles in criminal investigations. The United States will work with Romania to improve its IPR enforcement efforts.
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia will remain on the Watch List in 2009, and the United States will conduct an OCR to monitor further progress on IPR enforcement. In March 2009, the first United States – Saudi Arabia Intellectual Property Rights Working Group was held, which resulted in progress on certain IPR issues and facilitated improved cooperation between the governments and the private sector. Saudi Arabia has made progress in IPR enforcement, including an increased number of IPR raids, the disposition of numerous cases by the copyright enforcement Violations Review Committee, and improved transparency through the Ministry of Culture and Information website. Saudi Arabia needs to make further IPR improvements to its IPR enforcement system by sustaining raids and inspections to combat piracy and counterfeiting; encouraging courts to impose deterrent-level sentences, including jail sentences for serious IPR offenses; completing its efforts on the Ministry of Culture and Information website; ensuring that Saudi Government ministries are utilizing legal software; and improving border enforcement. The United States welcomes the renewed IPR dialogue and will work closely with Saudi Arabia to address the outstanding IPR issues during the coming year through the IPR Working Group, the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, and the OCR.
SPAIN
Spain will be maintained on the Watch List in 2009. The United States strongly urges that the Spanish Government take prompt and significant action to address the serious problem of Internet piracy. The Spanish Government has expended minimal effort to change the widespread misperception in Spain that peer-to-peer file sharing is legal. Further, while Spanish law enforcement authorities have taken some positive measures against pirate Internet websites, prosecutors have failed to pursue IPR cases, judges have failed to impose deterrent-level sentences against IPR infringers, and rightsholders do not have access to important legal tools needed to bring meaningful civil infringement suits. The United States urges Spain to make it clear that unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing is illegal, and to rescind problematic IPR policies such as the May 2006 Circular from the Office of the Prosecutor-General, which appears to legitimize such illicit activity. The United States will continue to work closely with Spain to address these IPR enforcement issues during the next year.
TAJIKISTAN
Tajikistan will remain on the Watch List in 2009. Tajikistan has been on the Watch List since 2000, as it has yet to fully implement its IPR commitments under the 1993 U.S.-Tajikistan Trade Agreement (Bilateral Trade Agreement). There has been some positive movement; however, in that Tajikistan became a contracting party to the WCT as of April 5, 2009, ratified the Rome Convention, and applied for accession to the WTO; however, significant issues remain. Tajikistan does not provide protection for U.S. and other foreign sound recordings and does not
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