IPR Update: Police Raids Continue

UNCLAS JAKARTA 003843 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR EAP/MTS; EB/IPE/EAP COMMERCE PLEASE PASS USPTO FOR JOELLEN URBAN DEPT PASS TO USTR DKATZ, JGROVES, VESPINEL E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: KIPR ETRD WTO ID SUBJECT: IPR Update: Police Raids Continue REF: A. JAKARTA 3296 ¶B. JAKARTA 3531 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Metropolitan Jakarta police conducted more than 200 raids on optical disc vendors in February 2006, arresting 145 individuals and seizing large quantities of pirated optical disks. While Jakarta police have not detained most small street vendors very long, 18 individuals remain in custody, including one factory owner. The Ministry of Industry is producing what it hopes will be a more comprehensive report on Government of Indonesia (GOI) IPR enforcement and awareness efforts, hopefully the week of March 27. Our IPR The police's recent enforcement actions demonstrate the most serious and sustained IPR enforcement effort in many years in Indonesia. End Summary. Police Step up IPR Raids -------------- ¶2. (SBU) A local Motion Picture Association (MPA) representative provided us on March 21 with detailed Indonesian police reports of 211 pirate optical disk mall and street vendor raids the Jakarta police conducted during February 2006. During the raids, police arrested 145 individuals and seized more than 200,000 pirated film and music DVDs, CDs, VCDs and MP3s. Details are as follows: -- Jakarta Metro: 9 raids, 10 arrests, 48,600 seized ODs; -- Central Jakarta: 11 raids, 11 arrests, 9,300 seized ODs; -- North Jakarta: 16 raids, 30 arrests, 43,200 seized ODs; -- West Jakarta: 7 raids, 6 arrests, 5,700 seized ODs; -- South Jakarta: 15 raids, 22 arrests, 23,300 seized ODs; -- East Jakarta: 37 raids, 31 arrests, 13,700 seized ODs; -- Tangerang: 16 raids, 17 arrests, 4,500 seized ODs; -- Bekasi: 18 raids, 39 arrests, 28,100 seized ODs; -- Depok: 18 raids, 45 arrests, 25,900 seized ODs. ¶3. (SBU) Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Metropolda) Special Crimes Chief Investigator Umar Surya Fana, a UPSTO0-trained Embassy contact, told us that in many cases police only detain small vendors for one evening to frighten them, but hold larger vendors longer while the police review their cases for possible submission to the prosecutors. He said Metropolda currently is detaining 18 persons for IPR violations, including the owner of factories raided on February 9 (Ref A) and March 8 (see para 4). He added that the impetus behind recent raids is Indonesia Police Chief Sutanto's late December directive to all regional police chiefs to step up IPR enforcement. ¶4. (SBU) A regional IFPI recording industry representative now working in Jakarta informed us on March 23 that police raided a registered factory on March 8 in Tangerang where they found evidence that its 1 DVD and 2 CD lines were producing pirated material. The industry representative was reluctant to share too many details, as an investigation continues into links to exports to Australia and a regional crime syndicate. The representative told us that as far as he was aware, police have closed and sealed off the factory. GOI Compiling IPR Progress Report -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Meanwhile, Ministry of Industry Director and Optical Disc Factory Monitoring Team Head Tony Tanduk told us he is compiling a report of all recent GOI IPR enforcement and awareness programs. He said he hoped to present it to the Embassy early the week of March 27. According to Tanduk, the GOI has much to report, including the recent police raids. He admitted that he finds it difficult to obtain information from other agencies, especially when they did not have it readily available. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Although much remains to be done, our contacts in the IPR industry believe the Jakarta police reports demonstrate the most serious and sustained IPR enforcement campaign in many years. They agree that the prime motivating factor has been General Sutanto's December directive. Of particular note is the breadth of the raids, which are apparently also occurring in other areas of Indonesia, and are not just occurring at the three Jakarta shopping malls listed in the USG May 2005 IPR action plan. PASCOE