CLEANING UP PIRACY FOR THE KING

UNCLAS BANGKOK 003477 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR USDOC FOR JKELLY, SWILSON USDOC PASS USPTO FOR PFOWLER E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: ECON KIPR TH SUBJECT: CLEANING UP PIRACY FOR THE KING ¶1. Summary: In honor of the 60th anniversary of the KingQs accession to the throne, Thailand has declared war on intellectual property piracy, pledging to sweep the streets and malls clean of pirated goods for the whole of June and July. Police and other enforcement authorities will be taking the campaign nationwide, but most efforts will be directed at the so-called "Red Areas", where piracy is particularly rampant. Little has been accomplished thus far into the campaign, but a new MOU being negotiated between enforcement authorities, rights holders and mall owners give hope that IPR enforcement will be improved beyond the next two months. End summary. ¶2. Police General Ukrit Patchimsawat, who replaced the much-respected General Nopadol to take charge of IP enforcement, has issued a directive to the 1400 police stations nationwide to put together IPR suppression units for each force and assign an officer to coordinate enforcement actions in their area. Enforcement actions are to be undertaken at a higher tempo for the next two months to keep the streets clear of any embarrassing sales of illegal merchandise during the KingQs anniversary celebrations. Piracy suppression will not be centrally directed, rather each police precinct will have responsibility for taking enforcement action in their locale and are required to submit regular reports to central headquarters on their progress. General Ukrit has organized two police teams to monitor police efforts and convince recalcitrant stations to get with the program. ¶3. Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) officials insisted to Econoff that this would not be just a showcase event, but hopes are not high in the local IP community that the suppression campaign will amount to a serious assault on piracy. On past occasions the RTG has swept piracy away temporarily, as it did during the APEC meetings in Bangkok in 2003, but the enforcement campaigns were never sustained. The campaign was to have begun in earnest on June 1, but police have yet to make a real impact on sales of pirated goods in any of the more notorious areas. A quick walk through IT malls in Bangkok showed sales of pirated goods at the usual rampant level. However, authorities apparently have had no difficulty clearing all vendors (including pirated merchandise sellers as well as noodle and satay carts) off the sidewalks of major thoroughfares in a bid to clean the streets during the celebrations. The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) that regulates street sales simply told vendors to take two weeks off. A few notorious sites for bootleg sales have disappeared as part of the overall street cleaning, but there is little doubt they will be back after the celebrations have ended. ¶4. Some of the delay in enforcement can be attributed to protracted negotiations over an MOU to manage the enforcement effort. On May 18, Deputy Minister of Commerce Preecha Louhapongchana convened a meeting between enforcement authorities, rights holders and mall owners to hammer out a new MOU to replace an earlier version signed in June 2004. The draft MOU is based largely on the previous version, but includes several provisions for which rights holders have been lobbying for years. ¶5. The draft MOU calls for cooperation from department stores and malls to terminate the leases of shops selling pirated merchandise. In cases where DIP informs the mall owner that a tenant has been prosecuted for IP offenses, the owner will be obligated to terminate the lease. In the MOU negotiations, mall owners have bridled at taking on that responsibility, concerned they may be exposed to liability from lessees. ¶6. The draft MOU also outlines specific geographical areas and malls where sale of infringing products is particularly severe, identifying the worst as "red areas" and less severe as "yellow areas". Responsibility for IP enforcement in red areas is to be conducted by RTG authorities who will regularly inspect the areas on an ex officio basis. IP rights holders will lead enforcement efforts in yellow areas, identifying potential targets and suspect infringers for police action. Controversial is the proposal that rights holders not settle arrests and seizures made in red areas. It is, and will continue to be, legal to drop charges in an arrest case in exchange for a financial settlement, but police hope a gentlemanQs agreement with rights holders not to settle will improve their enforcement efforts in the worst areas. ¶7. The Department of Special Investigations, set up to undertake large-scale criminal investigations, is also party to the MOU and is being recruited to follow up on police arrests and put increased resources into pursuing in-depth investigations into pirate organizations. Rights holders have long complained about the refusal or inability of local police to conduct investigations, typically closing the books on a case after an arrest, regardless of any evidence found of further complicity. As a result, court dockets have filled with cases of small-time dealers of infringing product while the masterminds stay safely above the fray. ¶8. Comment: Although little is expected from the current suppression campaign, a new MOU gives hope for long-term improvement in IPR enforcement. Rights holders hope that any serious enforcement action taken during this two-month period will at least set a precedent for the future. The local IP community gives credit to General Ukrit, who is committed and has put together a dedicated team to tackle IP enforcement. End Comment. BOYCE