To encourage strong action against piracy over the Internet, the United States will seek to work with the following trading partners to strengthen legal regimes and enhance enforcement: Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam. In particular, the United States will encourage trading partners to implement the WIPO Internet Treaties, which will provide, among other things, protection against the circumvention of technological protection measures. Regarding Switzerland in particular, the United States has serious concerns regarding the inability of rights holders to secure legal redress involving copyright piracy over the Internet. The United States strongly encourages Switzerland to combat online piracy vigorously and to ensure that rights holders can protect their rights on the Internet. The United States also encourages trading partners to adopt appropriate measures where needed with respect to the unauthorized camcording of motion pictures in theaters. Material that is recorded in this manner is often distributed without authorization over the Internet. In addition, the United States will encourage trading partners to enhance enforcement efforts including, for example, through the following: strengthening enforcement against major channels of piracy over the Internet, including notorious markets; creating specialized enforcement units or undertaking special initiatives against piracy over the Internet; and undertaking training to strengthen capacity to fight piracy over the Internet.
Although piracy over the Internet is rapidly supplanting physical piracy in many markets around the world, the production of, and trade in, pirated optical discs remain major problems in many regions. In recent years, some trading partners, such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Russia, have made progress toward implementing controls on optical media production. Other trading partners still need to adopt and implement legislation or improve existing measures to combat illegal optical disc production and distribution, including China, India, Paraguay, and Vietnam. The United States continues to urge those trading partners who face challenges of illegal optical disc production to pass effective legislation to counter this problem, and to enforce existing laws and regulations aggressively.
Trade Secrets and Forced Technology Transfer
Companies in a wide variety of industry sectors – including information and communication technologies, services, biopharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and environmental technologies – rely on the ability to protect their trade secrets and other proprietary information. Indeed, trade secrets are often among a company's core business assets, and a company's competitiveness may depend on its capacity to protect such assets.
The theft of trade secrets and other forms of economic espionage results in significant costs to U.S. companies, and threatens the economic security of the United States. If a company's trade secrets are stolen, its past investments in research and development, and its future profits, may be lost.
U.S. companies are experiencing an increase in the theft of their trade secrets outside of the U.S. The United States urges its trading partners to ensure that they have robust systems for protecting trade secrets, including deterrent penalties for criminal trade secret theft.
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