extremely efficient vehicle for disseminating copyright-infringing products, supplanting legitimate opportunities for rights holders. The U.S. Government's 2013 Notorious Markets List includes examples of online marketplaces reportedly engaging in commercial-scale IPR infringement, including sites hosted in or operated by parties located in Canada, China, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
Piracy over the Internet is a significant concern in many U.S. trading partners. Unauthorized retransmission of live sports telecasts over the Internet continues to be a growing problem for many trading partners, particularly China, and websites that link to infringing content are exacerbating the problem.
U.S. copyright industries also report growing problems with piracy using mobile telephones, tablets, flash drives, and other mobile technologies. In some countries, these devices are pre-loaded with illegal content even before they are sold.
In addition to piracy of music and films, U.S. industry reports the emergence of pirate servers, or "grey shards." Players of cloud-based entertainment software access these unauthorized servers to play copyrighted games that are made available through hacked software or circumvention of technological protection measures, which are used by rights holders to control unauthorized access to, and prevent unauthorized copying of, protected content.
The problem of online piracy is exacerbated due to the development and sale of devices that allow for the circumvention of technological protection measures (TPM). Such devices include "game copiers" and mod chips that make it possible to play pirated games on gaming systems. Software that enables TPM circumvention is also distributed online. For example, SlySoft, a company headquartered and operating in Antigua, developed and sells a program called "Any DVD HD" that enables the user to defeat the encryption technology embedded in Blu-ray Discs that prevents unauthorized reproduction and distribution. Antigua's Copyright Act makes it illegal to manufacture or import for sale or rental any such circumvention device. The consortium of electronic manufacturers, software companies, and motion picture studios that developed these technological protection measures has worked with the criminal enforcement authorities in Antigua for over seven years to enforce this statute and have this case prosecuted. In April 2014, the owner and operator of Slysoft was found guilty of providing tools to circumvent encryption and was fined $30,000. It is unclear whether the Government of Antigua and Barbuda will permit the site to continue operating now that its courts have determined the conduct to be unlawful. The United States will continue to monitor the situation.
The United States continues to have serious concerns regarding Switzerland's system of online copyright protection and enforcement. The United States strongly encourages Switzerland to demonstrate its commitment to copyright protection and to combating online piracy by taking steps to ensure that rights holders can protect their rights. The United States welcomes many aspects of the December 2013 report of the AGUR 12 working group on copyright and urges the Swiss government to move forward expeditiously with measures to appropriately and effectively address copyright piracy in Switzerland. The United States looks forward to working with Swiss authorities in their heightened engagement with respect to this priority issue.
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