IPR ENFORCEMENT TEAM GOES AFTER COPYRIGHT LAW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003171

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/ELA
STATE ALSO FOR EB/TPP/IPE
STATE PASS TO USTR
USDOC FOR 4521/MAC/ANESA/CLOUSTANAU/NWIEGLER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ETRD ECON KTIA JO
SUBJECT: IPR ENFORCEMENT TEAM GOES AFTER COPYRIGHT LAW
VIOLATORS

REF: AMMAN 2850

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. FOR USG USE ONLY.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Within days of the new Jordanian
Copyright Law's promulgation on March 31, GOJ IPR enforcement
teams were on the streets enforcing the new law. Officials
raided 40-50 software shops and confiscated pirated software
in five, referring the cases for prosecution. With the
Business Software Alliance's cooperation and subsequent
publicity, the campaign targeted at illegal software was
widely covered in the press. The IPR enforcers plan further
raids targeting music and movies, and say they will seek
larger fines for copyright infringement convictions. END
SUMMARY.

New Copyright Law
--------------


2. (U) On March 31, Jordan's temporary Copyright Law, and
the amendments to make it WIPO- and FTA-compatible, were
published in the Official Gazette, thus making it the law of
the land. Post will fax to NEA/ELA the Arabic-language text
of the law and amendments as published in the Gazette;
Econoff also referred the law to a USAID-supported project
that will publish on the internet English translations at
www.jordanianbusinesslaws.com.


3. (U) Within days of the law's publication, the
enforcement unit based in the National Library conducted
raids on 40 to 50 shops along Amman's Garden Street, an area
near Jordan University with a high concentration of computer
shops. National Library director Mamoun Talhouni told us
that his team focused on software piracy and found five
instances of pirated software. The software was confiscated
and referred for prosecution under the Copyright Law, he
said. (Post will attempt to follow these cases through the
courts to identify and report strengths or weaknesses of the
enforcement system.) Press coverage of the initial National
Library raids was extensive, with all of the major
Arab-language dailies reporting on them. The Business
Software Alliance,s regional representative was prominently
quoted, noting these actions protected Jordan's growing IT
sector.

Pirates Running Scared; Embarrassment of Confiscated Riches
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Talhouni said that shop owners were "running scared
about using illegal stuff," and that fewer and fewer were
displaying pirated software, in a marked departure from past
practice. He also relayed a "problem" he was having with
street hawkers: IPR enforcement teams were collecting so
many of the hawkers' illegal wares "after they ran" that his
teams were running out of space to store the "thousands" of
pirated items. Still to be worked out is the legal process
for ordering their destruction, he noted.


5. (SBU) Next steps included more raids on video and music
shops, Talhouni said, where some were selling pirated CDs,
DVDs, videotapes, and audiotapes. He also noted that the
National Library was planning a public awareness campaign on
IPR with the assistance of the USAID Achievement of
Market-Friendly Initiatives and Results (AMIR) program.
Talhouni expressed interest in more training sessions for the
judiciary, along the lines of seminar held earlier this year
in coordination with the Jordan Intellectual Property
Association.

Sending a "Crime Does Not Pay" Message
-------------- = --------------


6. (SBU) A key point at such seminars will be to convince
the judiciary to enforce the new penalties available under
the Copyright Law. At present, many judges still rely on the
old, criminal law fines. When a neighbor sees a hawker of
pirated goods fined ten Jordanian dinars (about USD 14),"he
thinks that is nothing," said Talhouni. "It has no effect on
the ground." Applying the new statute's penalties of 1000 JD
(USD 1400) or more would send a strong signal that selling
pirated materials does not pay, he noted. If judges started
imposing the fines in the Copyright Law, "the people will be
frightened" into obeying the law.


7. (SBU) COMMENT: The GOJ is off to a promising start with
the new Copyright Law. We believe the key players are aware
that enforcement is key to preventing pirating and
infringement. At the current rate of case referrals to
prosecution (58 through April 17),the GOJ will only modestly
surpass the 218 cases filed in 2004. However, Talhouni said
that these case referral figures will improve during the next
three quarters of 2005, now that the GOJ has the Copyright
Law in its toolkit of enforcement measures.
HALE