WORKSHOP HOSTED BY EMBASSY ADVANCES MUTUAL INTERESTS OF

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001720 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE EB/TPP/IPE FOR JBOGER, RWALLACE AND RWATTS INL FOR JVIGIL DEPT PLS PASS TO USTR JENNIFER CHOE GROVES, KATHARINE DUCKWORTH DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT (ROBERT LIPMAN) DOC/ITA/MAC/OIPR FOR CATHERINE PETERS PLEASE PASS TO USPTO JURBAN AND LOC STEPP TREASURY FOR ROSELLEN ALBANO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ECON AR SUBJECT: WORKSHOP HOSTED BY EMBASSY ADVANCES MUTUAL INTERESTS OF ARGENTINA AND THE U.S. IN COMBATING IPR VIOLATIONS Ref: Buenos Aires 750 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Embassy Buenos Aires hosted a successful workshop, led by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (DOJ/OPDAT),to facilitate the drafting by Argentine government officials from eight separate GoA entities and private sector representatives of a manual of best practices to combat intellectual property rights (IPR) violations. The workshop is a key deliverable in Post's IPR action plan. Participants also heard from several speakers representing Argentina's creative industries, and discussed Argentina's IPR challenges with the Ambassador. One result of the workshop was the creation of a draft manual on best practices for combating IPR violations in Argentina - a draft which participants committed to continue to revise and improve and which will eventually be published and distributed with Post/INL assistance. The workshop also launched the first public/private IPR working group in the history of Argentina, one which has the potential to have a concrete impact on counterfeiting and piracy in Argentina. End Summary. -------------- MANUAL LABOR -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Embassy Buenos Aires hosted an August 14-16, 2007 workshop to facilitate the drafting by Argentine government officials and private sector representatives of a manual of best practice techniques to combat intellectual property rights (IPR) violations. The results were a working draft of a manual and a broad agreement by the participants to form an Argentine IP working group. The workshop was designed and led by a DOJ/OPDAT Program Manager and his training team. The draft manual created during the workshop was specific to Argentina and reflected the broad experience and knowledge of the workshop participants. Once finalized and published, this "best practices" manual can be used as a resource by all Argentine prosecutors and investigators handling IPR cases. The conference, along with the subsequent publishing of the manual, is a key deliverable in Post's strategic IPR plan (reftel). The Argentine participants in the program included a federal criminal judge, prosecutors (federal and from the province and city of Buenos Aires),investigators from the Gendarmeria and Prefectura Naval, tax and customs authorities, private attorneys who work on IP issues, and representatives of private sector organizations interested in improved IP protection. Because of the high level of piracy-related crimes in the Tri-Border Area (where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil share borders),Post arranged for both an Argentine customs official and an official in an Argentine prosecutor's office from that region to participate in the workshop. ¶3. (SBU) After a preliminary discussion about the importance of protecting intellectual property rights, the participants were divided into three teams and began to draft the manual. Each team was given a specific section to work on (intelligence gathering, investigation procedures and techniques, and possible charges and defenses against those charges). The teams worked separately to brainstorm, draft and refine their sections until a first draft was created. Once each team completed a draft, it was distributed to the other teams for editing, revision and additions. When the sections were put together, the draft was reviewed by the entire group at the end of the program. -------------- EMPHASIZING MUTUAL INTERESTS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) To help participants realize the scope of the toll of IPR violations on Argentina, the workshop was complemented by presentations by representatives of two of Argentina's most prominent creative industries -- music and film. One speaker was Charly Alberti, drummer of famed Argentine rock group Soda Stereo, who noted that "A society that doesn't protect intellectual property is a society that doesn't encourage thinking, and therefore will not be able to evolve." Carlos Mentasti, part owner of Sono Argentina film studio and a movie producer, spoke about the significant number of persons employed in the production of a film. The final speaker was the Ambassador, who discussed with participants their work on the manual and their perspectives on IPR protection in Argentina. The Econ section also hosted a reception which allowed the participants to meet members of Post's law enforcement agencies (LegAtt and DEA) and the Political section - an important opportunity, as most of the GoA participants have responsibilities that extend beyond IP. -------------- --- APPLYING LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE AL CAPONE CASE -------------- --- ¶5. (SBU) The second result of the workshop was the formation of an intellectual property working group. The DOJ/OPDAT team explained at length that if law enforcement was going to be successful in complex cases, law enforcement officials (prosecutors, police, etc.) needed to work as partners during the investigation and prosecution. The DOJ/OPDAT team also pointed out that to make optimal use of the draft best practices manual the participants of the workshop would need to continue to meet to review and refine the manual so that it would be good enough to use both as a law enforcement and training tool. The OPDAT team then encouraged the participants to pick a date, a time, and a place to meet as a working group - and the participants did so. In addition, the participants agreed that their first working group meeting could go beyond the manual into other areas of cooperation on intellectual property crimes and issues. The first working group meeting will be held on September 5 and will be hosted by the federal judge who participated in the workshop. In addition, as suggested by the DOJ/OPDAT training team, the participants decided to thereafter meet monthly as a working group. ¶6. (SBU) Cooperation among government entities in Argentina on IP enforcement has long been lacking, and the increased efficiency and effectiveness that could result from the working group is potentially widespread. Post is not aware of any prior public (and multi-agency)/private IPR working group in Argentina. The level of enthusiasm about the workshop was encouraging. Indeed, AFIP (the Argentine tax authority) officials, though recognizing that they traditionally have not had a direct role in IPR enforcement, requested and received Post's invitation and sent two tax auditors to the workshop, and both the Argentine Customs service and the Prefectura sent more participants than anticipated. It was DOJ/OPDAT that encouraged Post to invite to the workshop all potentially relevant agencies because a multi-disciplinary approach is often the best approach to combating IPR crime. As pointed out during the workshop by the OPDAT team, Al Capone went to prison on tax offenses, illustrating that a multi-disciplinary approach, one that includes tax investigators, is often the best approach when investigating and prosecuting complex crimes. -------------- NEXT STEPS -------------- ¶7. (SBU) It is anticipated that participants in the workshop, and their colleagues, will over the coming weeks continue to expand and improve the manual. When this working group deems the manual ready for initial distribution, Post expects to publish several hundred copies (with INL funds) and begin to distribute them to prosecutors and investigators throughout Argentina. Ideally, some of the recipients of the manual will contribute their ideas and suggestions to the manual, so that it will continue to improve over time and be made more relevant to each entity using it as a tool - for investigations, prosecutions, or training. The working group will be an ideal forum to continue that process, and will also facilitate coordination between the different GoA enforcement agencies, as several workshop participants noted to Emboffs and the DOJ coordinators that there was a need for increased cooperation and communication between their agencies. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Argentina's 13-year tenure on the Special 301 Priority Watch List is attributable in no small part to the widespread availability of pirated and counterfeit products, which our 301 report says "calls for stronger IPR enforcement actions." This manual stands to make investigations and prosecutions of criminal cases more efficient and effective and so is a step on that path. Armed with written guidance on enforcement procedures -- in the form of a "best practices" manual drafted by and for Argentina's own experts on combating IPR violations -- the GoA's law enforcement community will be better positioned to do more with the limited resources dedicated to this problem. While the newly-created manual and the newly-formed working group don't address the political issue of Argentina dedicating more resources to fight IP violations (an option Post considers unlikely, given the current high level of public concern about other crimes),combined, the manual and the working group are likely to have a synergetic effect that makes it possible for the GoA to accomplish more in the area of IP enforcement without additional resources. The working group - given its broad GoA participation, and input from the private sector - might, in time, be the perfect vehicle to effect concrete improvement in IPR enforcement at national and local levels in Argentina. ¶9. (U) This cable was cleared by the DOJ/OPDAT workshop coordinators. -------------- REPLICABILITY -------------- ¶10. (U) The success of this program was a direct result of the fact that, from its inception, it was planned and implemented as a partnership involving the State Department (INL and Post) and DOJ/OPDAT. The technical assistance techniques used in this program can be applied to a variety of crimes affecting U.S. interests, such as financial crimes (including corruption),crimes involving intellectual property, and human trafficking. Posts interested in implementing a program of this nature may wish to contact AmEmbassy Buenos Aires EconOff (Brian Jensen at 54-11-5777-4403, JensenBD@state.gov) or DOJ/OPDAT (Robert Lipman at (202) 514-0950, Robert.Lipman@usdoj.gov). WAYNE