SPECIAL 301 INITIATIVE ACTION PLAN DELIVERED

UNCLAS RIYADH 001909 SIPDIS SIPDIS USTR FOR JENNIFER GROVES AND JASON BUNTIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR PGOV SA SUBJECT: SPECIAL 301 INITIATIVE ACTION PLAN DELIVERED REF: SECSTATE 107629 ¶1. On September 15, EmbOffs met with Mohamad Al-Aiyash, Chairman of the IPR Committee, to discuss the Special 301 Initiative. The Special 301 Initiative non-paper action plan was delivered to the SAG on August 14th. Al-Aiyash reported that upon receipt it was forwarded to the Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) for study and comment. The Violations Review Committee, responsible for copyright cases, is part of MOCI. After MOCI provides its response to the action plan to the inter-agency IPR Committee, it will meet to improve upon MOCI's response and consider aspects of the plan for which MOCI is not responsible. The IPR Committee will coordinate its response with all involved agencies and then provide the official response to Post. ¶3. Al-Aiyash reported that the SAG is in contact with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) regarding the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. He said that the SAG is considering engaging a legal advisor to explain the content of the treaties and what the SAG's responsibilities would be if it were to ratify the treaties. ¶4. Al-Aiyash was not able to estimate when the official response might be announced, but assured EmbOffs that the ministries are "busy" considering the plan and that he had recently discussed it with Sheikh Mohamad Abdullah Al-Ameen, Chairman of the Board of Grievances. Al-Aiyash also reported that a proposed meeting between Al-Ameen and the Ministers of Commerce and Culture and Information to discuss IPR issues generally and the Violations Review Committee in particular has not yet occurred because of the summer holidays. FRAKER