Italy
Italy remains on the Watch List with an Out-of-Cycle review to be conducted this year. Italy continued to make progress in improving its IPR protection and enforcement in 2010, including by increased cooperation among law enforcement officials and improved enforcement actions against certain types of IPR violations. The United States remains concerned that, overall enforcement against copyright piracy continues to be inadequate and that piracy over the Internet continues to grow, severely damaging the legitimate market for distribution of copyrighted works. The United States welcomes recent efforts to address piracy over the Internet, and looks forward to measures to help ameliorate this problem. Specifically, proposed regulations by the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) could provide rights holders with an avenue to curb IPR violations online in an effective manner. The United States encourages Italy to ensure that the AGCOM regulations are swiftly promulgated and implemented, that these regulations create an effective mechanism against copyright piracy over the Internet, and that they address all types of piracy that takes place online. The United States also encourages Italy to address other IPR issues, including a troubling Data Protection Agency ruling prohibiting the monitoring of peer-to-peer networks. While rights holders report good efforts by the Finance Police and the Customs Police, few cases reach final sentencing and courts still fail to impose deterrent level sentences. The United States will continue to work with Italy to address these and other matters.
Jamaica
Jamaica remains on the Watch List. Jamaica has continued to make progress by increasing its IPR enforcement and training efforts. Rights holders are also filing an increasing number of cases in the Jamaican court system. However, the United States urges Jamaica to improve its IPR protection and enforcement. To date, Jamaica has not enacted the Patents and Designs Act, which is intended to implement certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement and the United States-Jamaica Bilateral Intellectual Property Agreement. The United States recommends that Jamaica provide for deterrent level sentences to be imposed against IPR infringers. The United States will continue to work with Jamaica to address these and other issues.
Kuwait
Kuwait remains on the Watch List. Customs authorities continue to make progress on enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting. However, enforcement efforts are hampered by the lack of coordination among different agencies, and by the judiciary's failure to impose deterrent penalties against IPR violators. The United States remains concerned that several key pieces of draft IPR legislation, particularly proposed amendments to the 1999 copyright law, have remained pending for many years. The United States continues to provide technical assistance in connection with Kuwait's legislative efforts and encourages Kuwait to enact and implement legislation to strengthen its IPR protections, and to improve its enforcement efforts. The United States will continue to work with Kuwait to address these and other matters.
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