Spain, Greece Face Epidemic of Piracy?

Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus releases its “Priority Country List” of nations who have failed to “modernize” their copyright laws.

Senator Gordon H. Smith and Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., co-chairs of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IAPC) today released their “Priority Country List” today in order to highlight “…some of the most pressing problems confronting the American creative community in global commerce.”

The annual report of the watch list identifies countries based on levels of piracy and the need for government intervention in lawmaking, enforcement and prosecution of intellectual property theft.

For the first time, Spain and Greece join usual suspects Russia, China, Canada and Mexico on the list of countries with the highest levels of piracy.

The list is essentially Congress’ smaller-scale version of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual 301 Report. But unlike the 301 Report, the caucus list does not carry with it the authority directly to affect trade relations with any countries.

Still, the MPAA and the RIAA hailed the list, and Hollywood particularly emphasized the inclusion of Spain.

“The Spanish government’s persistent failure to address Spain’s epidemic Internet piracy problem, which is wreaking havoc on the legitimate market, has caused Spain to appear on the list,” said MPAA head Dan Glickman.

This year’s list also focuses on Canada, referring to as one of “the ignominious three” alongside China and Russia as high-priority countries with “persistent intellectual property problems.” The report also criticizes its failure to “join the rest of its partners in the developed world in modernizing its copyright laws to address the challenges — and to seize the opportunities — of the digital age.”

What “opportunities” would the entertainment industry like “seized” by the “ignominious three” and others? ISP filtering and three-strike-and-your-out for repeated copyright infringers apparently.

“The increasing scourge of online copyright theft underscores the need for all governments to develop and vigorously enforce effective legislative solutions to address online piracy and to encourage greater interindustry cooperation in the fight against it.,” added Glickman.

“Interindustry cooperation” means that it wants the ISP industry to comply, or cooperate, with its demands for greater scrutiny of data traffic on its network and to disconnect customers repeatedly accused of illegal file-sharing.

You know that Congressman are underworked and overpaid when they take the time to research, assess, and report to what degree each country in the entire world protects the copyrighted works of the entertainment industry.

I mean in light of our persistent dependence on foreign oil, bloated farm subsidies, home mortgage crisis, rising food and fuel prices, and of yeah – THE WAR ON TERRORISM – they instead worry whether or not foreign governments are properly concerned that the RIAA and MPAA members get every cent, euro, ruble, or yuan they feel properly due.

Has anyone reminded them recently that more than half the world’s population lives on less than a dollar a day?

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