Enough of this shame game
If there were glum faces at the Commerce Ministry this week, they belonged to ministers and officials responsible for enforcing intellectual property rights. The United States had just issued its annual report card which lauded them for making a "continuing commitment to improving protection and enforcement", but then chided them for "failing to make substantial progress". That apparent contradiction means another year on the Priority Watch List, which could translate into barriers to trade and other penalties.
Washington lobbyists for the movie, music, software and pharmaceutical industries almost certainly had a say in this blinkered decision by the Office of the US Trade Representative. The main points of contention are illegal downloading of pirated works from the internet, alleged camcording of motion pictures in cinemas and the theft of cable and satellite signals. The demands, according to Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot, are for an anti-camcording law; punishment of landlords renting space to sellers of pirated products; a law protecting copyright on digital and internet networks; and another law authorising Customs officials to seize counterfeit products without requests from the private sector.
Insistence on this raft of legislation will be seen by many as a bullying tactic, especially as there has been significant progress in the past decade with a notable increase in momentum over the past two years. Apart from the multitude of cases before the intellectual property courts, police last year took action in 4,851 cases of alleged piracy and seized a total of 4.25 million items. An anti-camcording draft bill has already received cabinet approval and revisions have been proposed to the 2007 Computer Crime Act, although legislators have yet to debate these highly controversial proposals.
Unlike in some cultures, elected representatives in this country have never reacted well to foreign pressure. Encouragement and tangible recognition of positive results are more likely to spur further action than the confrontational attitude of someone waving a big stick. No one disputes or condones the fact that pirated goods and software are widely available and that downloading from overseas torrent sites is rife. But the authorities are tackling the problem and the political will exists to solve it.
There is no magic bullet. Abruptly closing down Bangkok's notorious red zones would merely drive the problem underground. A gradual approach is already paying dividends with the closure of one major centre, a feat believed impossible a few years ago. If it were as easy to get rid of fakes and online transgressions as Washington seems to believe, there would be no bootleg products available on the streets of New York or other major US cities. Nor would there be any illegal downloading to the home of Hollywood, or camcorders sighted in US theatres blatantly stealing movies. But despite tough laws, these gangs and freelancers are still in evidence. Those who are so quick to point the finger at Thailand would do well to look in their own backyard.
The proper course of action is to go after big-time producers, not vendors, close our borders to the movement of counterfeit goods and make the public aware that the major cost of intellectual property theft is not to the big international brand-owners but to the country's economy, its reputation and future. Far more Thais would be able to make profits and gain a better life with enforcement of intellectual property rights, than the minority who benefit from piracy and online theft.
Only unity and strength of purpose will achieve this. Threats are counter-productive.
0 comments:
Post a Comment