NEWS

Russia, US, copyright deal

Russia and the US, “are expected to sign an agreement on copyright protection, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said,” according to Interfax.

More than ten years of pressure from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), “has convinced U.S. lawmakers and law enforcement officials that it’s worth using America’s muscle to protect movie and music interests abroad,” said The Washington Post this summer.

This propaganda campaign finally translated, in part, into a full frontal assault led by US trade representative Susan Schwab, with Russian download site AllofMP3.com at the sharp end.

“I have a hard time imagining Russia becoming a member of the WTO and having a Web site [AllofMP3.com] like that up and running that is so clearly a violation of everyone’s intellectual property rights,” she said last month.

Now, “A separate copyright protection accord will be signed,” Gref told the press in comments on the accords reached with the US in talks on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization last week, says Interfax, adding:

“The agreement will list measures in the making and application of laws, as well as monitoring mechanisms, which aim to enhance the efficiency of copyright protection, he said.”

The story doesn’t explain what “monitoring mechanisms” means.

A draft is being scrutinized by the Russian government, Gref said.

p2pnet.net