Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05WELLINGTON334
2005-04-26 03:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Wellington
Cable title:  

NEW ZEALAND: PROPOSAL FOR 2005 IPR TRAINING

Tags:  KIPR ECON EFIN ETRD PREL NZ 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WELLINGTON 000334 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE-AAREIAS, INL/C-ASHANTI AND
EAP/ANP-TRAMSEY

E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ECON EFIN ETRD PREL NZ
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND: PROPOSAL FOR 2005 IPR TRAINING
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

REF: STATE 48295

Post submits the following project proposal for the 2005
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Training and Technical
Assistance Program (reftel):

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)
and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society
(AMCOS) have set up a joint intellectual property
enforcement unit for New Zealand and the South Pacific
region. Terence O'Neill-Joyce, RIANZ's outgoing president,
has been running the unit on an ad-hoc basis since its
inception in 1996. In mid-2005, he intends to operate the
unit on a full-time basis and to expand its activities.
Post recommends that funding be considered for the unit's
activities, such as its legal and training costs.

Post believes this unit fills a gap in the efforts by New
Zealand and South Pacific countries to fight music piracy.
Most Pacific Island nations have no enforcement staff
dedicated to protecting intellectual property rights. The
unit has three main objectives: intelligence, prevention and
enforcement. It is developing an intelligence framework to
identify local producers of pirated works, distributors,
criminal networks and recipients and to work with relevant
government, law enforcement, customs and other authorities
and stakeholders. The unit aims to prevent piracy by
sharing intelligence with other organizations and agencies,
lobbying political parties and the judiciary on the harm to
industry and supporting public awareness campaigns. It will
undertake enforcement operations targeting manufacturers,
importers, distributors and sellers of illegal material.
The unit also will train law enforcement and other agencies
in the implementation of intellectual property legislation
through identifying offenses and disrupting piracy
activities.

The unit is working on behalf of the composers, performers
and producers represented by the Australasian Performing
Right Association, AMCOS, RIANZ, Independent Music New
Zealand, the New Zealand Music Industry Commission and the
Fiji Performing Right Association. The unit reports to
those organizations' boards, but operates independently.
Public and private sources within each country will fund the
bulk of the unit's operating costs, with AMCOS and RIANZ
funding now supporting one employee.

Embassy Apia and Embassy Suva have reviewed this proposal
and report that it does not conflict with their activities.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WELLINGTON 000334

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE-AAREIAS, INL/C-ASHANTI AND
EAP/ANP-TRAMSEY

E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ECON EFIN ETRD PREL NZ
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND: PROPOSAL FOR 2005 IPR TRAINING
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

REF: STATE 48295

Post submits the following project proposal for the 2005
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Training and Technical
Assistance Program (reftel):

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)
and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society
(AMCOS) have set up a joint intellectual property
enforcement unit for New Zealand and the South Pacific
region. Terence O'Neill-Joyce, RIANZ's outgoing president,
has been running the unit on an ad-hoc basis since its
inception in 1996. In mid-2005, he intends to operate the
unit on a full-time basis and to expand its activities.
Post recommends that funding be considered for the unit's
activities, such as its legal and training costs.

Post believes this unit fills a gap in the efforts by New
Zealand and South Pacific countries to fight music piracy.
Most Pacific Island nations have no enforcement staff
dedicated to protecting intellectual property rights. The
unit has three main objectives: intelligence, prevention and
enforcement. It is developing an intelligence framework to
identify local producers of pirated works, distributors,
criminal networks and recipients and to work with relevant
government, law enforcement, customs and other authorities
and stakeholders. The unit aims to prevent piracy by
sharing intelligence with other organizations and agencies,
lobbying political parties and the judiciary on the harm to
industry and supporting public awareness campaigns. It will
undertake enforcement operations targeting manufacturers,
importers, distributors and sellers of illegal material.
The unit also will train law enforcement and other agencies
in the implementation of intellectual property legislation
through identifying offenses and disrupting piracy
activities.

The unit is working on behalf of the composers, performers
and producers represented by the Australasian Performing
Right Association, AMCOS, RIANZ, Independent Music New
Zealand, the New Zealand Music Industry Commission and the
Fiji Performing Right Association. The unit reports to
those organizations' boards, but operates independently.

Public and private sources within each country will fund the
bulk of the unit's operating costs, with AMCOS and RIANZ
funding now supporting one employee.

Embassy Apia and Embassy Suva have reviewed this proposal
and report that it does not conflict with their activities.

1) Targeted to U.S. priorities.

The project would be aimed not only at the rising piracy
problem in New Zealand, but also in Pacific Island nations
including Fiji, the Cook Islands and Samoa, whose
governments have limited ability and resources to combat
piracy.

The region has received increasing numbers of pirated
optical discs from Pakistan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and
China. The music industry estimates the cost of piracy
activity -- including illegal DVDs, CDs and Internet
downloading -- to New Zealand and South Pacific governments
to be NZ $14.25 million (US $10.3 million) in tax revenue.
The overall loss to the industry was roughly NZ $50 million
(US $36.2 million) last year in the region, a 30 percent
increase from the previous year.

2) Strong support of host government.

In the WTO, APEC and other multilateral forums, the New
Zealand government has professed a strong commitment to
intellectual property crime enforcement efforts. The South
Pacific governments have expressed the desire to improve IPR
enforcement, but also have pointed to their inability to do
so because of a lack of funding and expertise.

3) Addresses key gap in IPR enforcement.

IPR enforcement is a task shared by a number of agencies in
New Zealand that, in some cases, lack sufficient powers and
resources to investigate and prosecute illegal traders. New
Zealand Customs, for example, does not have the power to
prosecute, although it can confiscate and destroy pirated
products. Instead of criminal prosecutions, holders of
intellectual property rights have to pursue relief through
civil lawsuits. Although the government is fully committed
to enforcing its intellectual property laws, it lacks a
central body to coordinate the sharing of information on
illegal IP activities and enforcement efforts. The
intellectual property enforcement unit addresses these
deficiencies.

The unit also will oversee sharing of intelligence,
expertise and training between New Zealand and the South
Pacific countries. The island nations would greatly benefit
from an efficient sharing of resources made possible by the
unit.

4) Has capacity to achieve near term, measurable success,
with metrics.

The project's performance will be judged by specific
milestones, including increases in the number of enforcement
operations and seizures, with percentages or numerical
targets re-set annually. The unit also will be measured by
the number of reports it submits to the International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) on its
contributions to IP protection and enforcement methodology.

5) Has strong project oversight and accountability measures.

The performance measures will be set at the start of each
year and reviewed annually by the combined boards. Working
with the boards, Embassy Wellington will closely monitor the
project and continually assess its strengths and weaknesses.

6) Following is the estimated budget for the intellectual
property enforcement unit for the first full year of
operations:

Total costs: NZ $533,000 (US $386,158)

Start-up costs: NZ $78,000 (US $56,510)

Salaries: NZ $215,000 (US $155,768)

Operating costs: NZ $240,000 (US $173,880)

Start-up costs (NZ dollars):
Furnishings $25,000
IT costs (equipment) $45,000
Sundries $8,000

Salaries (NZ dollars):
Unit head $90,000
Intelligence and policy development $60,000
Licensing and enforcement officer $40,000
Administrative support $25,000

Operating costs (NZ dollars):
Accommodations (rental, utilities) $55,000
IT support $15,000
Legal costs (investigation, prosecution)$75,000
Training (internet piracy, law) $50,000
Travel costs $35,000
Employer liabilities $10,000

NOTE: In U.S. dollars, legal costs would be $54,338 and
training costs would be $36,225.

BURNETT