SPECIAL 301 PREVIEW DELIVERED TO HONG KONG AND

UNCLAS HONG KONG 000815 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EEB/OMA DOC PASS AWILSON DHS PASS MMDUDEK DOJ PASS JZACHARIA USPTO PASS JURBAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR HK CH SUBJECT: SPECIAL 301 PREVIEW DELIVERED TO HONG KONG AND MACAU REF: A. STATE 41999 ¶B. HONG KONG 372 ¶C. HONG KONG 382 ¶1. (U) Post provided a preview of the 2009 Special 301 report to governments of Macau and Hong Kong on April 30 (ref A). Macau -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Macau Customs Service Director General Choi Lai Hang appreciated our advance notice that Macau was excluded from this year's Special 301 report. He pledged to continue his department's efforts to eradicate counterfeit goods in Macau. EconOff expressed the USG's appreciation of Macau Customs' effectiveness in combating physical piracy, but restated our concern about the continued rampant piracy of satellite television signals by unlicensed firms (known locally as "antenna companies") that provide cable TV service to the majority of Macau's residential customers (ref B). Choi said signal piracy by the antenna companies is not a criminal offense in Macau. He speculated this was the reason why the prosecutor's office in Macau has not pursued the several signal piracy cases presented by Macau Customs. He encouraged us to continue our discussions about this issue with the Macau Special Administrative Region Government (MSARG) Bureau of Telecommunications Regulation (known locally by its Portuguese acronym "DSRT"). DSRT was unable to meet with us to discuss the Special 301 report, but we will continue our dialogue with DSRT to prod them toward action against the antenna companies. ¶3. (SBU) In a separate meeting on April 30 with Macau Cable CEO Angela Leung, she said several Macau government departments, public universities, hospitals and schools continue to use antenna companies. She said her company (the only licensed cable TV provider in Macau) recently sent letters to the MSARG requesting that all government-operated facilities immediately cease their antenna company service. When we discussed this issue with Choi, he encouraged us to address the issue with the DSRT. Hong Kong -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In an April 30 discussion with HKG Intellectual Property Department (IPD) Acting Director Peter Cheung, Post expressed appreciation for IPD's exemplary efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPR). Cheung thanked the Consulate General fr our support of IPD's programs, and said multilaeral cooperation remains a key element of his goernment's IPR protection efforts (ref C). He saidBeijing and Guangdong officials increasingly liase with IPD to learn from its IPR-related activiies, including legislative amendments, anti-piracy education for young people and small businesses, retail store certification programs, formal cooperation mechanisms with Hong Kong Customs, and IPD's relationship-building with private sector intellectual property owners. DONOVAN