SAUDIS STILL STUDYING SPECIAL 301 INITIATIVE

UNCLAS RIYADH 002192 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USTR FOR JENNIFER GROVES AND JASON BUNTIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR PGOV SA SUBJECT: SAUDIS STILL STUDYING SPECIAL 301 INITIATIVE ACTION PLAN REF: RIYADH 1909 Emboffs met with Mohamad Al-Aiyash, Chairman of the IPR Committee, on November 3 to discuss, inter alia, any developments in the SAG's internal review of Saudi Arabia's Special 301 Action Plan (reftel). Al-Aiyash shared that the Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) provided its comments to the plan after the Eid (no earlier than October 20). He said that the IPR Committee is now analyzing MOCI's response and coordinating with other ministries to address aspects of the plan for which MOCI is not responsible. Al-Aiyash also mentioned that he met with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva last month. The SAG is still in the process of engaging a legal advisor to explain the content of the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty and what the SAG's responsibilities would be if it were to ratify the treaties. Al-Aiyash emphasized that the SAG did not want to undertake any obligations it could not meet. FRAKER