IPR: RUSSIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTICIPATION IN A NORTHEAST

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001439

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/RUS(TUMINARO),EEB/IPE(URBAN)
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR KALVAREZ, PBURKHEAD
USDOC 4231 JBROUGHER,
USPTO MSMITH
DOJ/CCIPS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ETRD KIPR ECON RS
SUBJECT: IPR: RUSSIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTICIPATION IN A NORTHEAST
AND BALTIC CONFERENCE ON INTERNET PIRACY

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1. Summary. A delegation of Russian law enforcement officials
participated in the 5th annual USPTO Northeast Baltic Regional
Conference on Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
in the Digital Environment held in Helsinki, Finland on April 28-29,

2009. Their participation signals a growing interest in IPR
protection. The purpose of the conference was to offer a forum for
law enforcement officials, prosecutors and intellectual property
experts to share knowledge and practical experiences of effective
investigation and prosecution of both copyright piracy in the
electronic environment, and trademark counterfeiting over the
Internet. Delegations from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, UK,
and the U.S. also participated. Conference participants encouraged
further cooperation between Russian and foreign law enforcement to
combat Internet piracy challenges. End Summary.




2. Pol/Econ Officer from St. Petersburg and Embassy Moscow's IPR
Attache attended the "Northeast Baltic Regional Conference on
Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the
Electronic Environment" held by the USPTO and Embassy Helsinki on
April 28-29, 2009. The purpose of the conference was to offer a
forum for law enforcement officials, prosecutors and intellectual
property experts to share knowledge and practical experiences of
effective investigation and prosecution of both copyright piracy in
the electronic environment, and trademark counterfeiting over the
internet. Officials from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, UK,
U.S. and Russia participated.

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3. Although this was the fifth annual conference of this kind
(previous conferences had all been held in Tallinn, Estonia),it was
the first time Embassy Moscow was successful in recruiting officials
from Russia to attend. The Russian delegation comprised of
working-level representatives from various agencies such as the
Federal Customs Service, the General Procuracy, and the Ministry of
Interior's Cybercrimes and Economic Investigation Units, as well as
representatives from the Russian Embassy in Finland. While the
USPTO provided incentive to attend by covering their travel
expenses, their active participation in exchanging opinions
indicated sincere interest. Russian officials pointed out, in the
last year Russian courts considered over 6,000 cases related to
violations of IP rights. This represents considerable progress in
comparison with just three years ago, when the number of similar
cases was less than one hundred. Representatives of neighboring
countries encouraged increased cooperation from their Russian
counterparts. In particular, a representative of a Finnish
anti-piracy center underscored that the cooperation extended by
Russian Customs authorities largely facilitated his country's
success in fighting CD/DVD piracy.

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4. In general physical piracy is down in all the concerned countries
because Internet piracy is becoming the predominant method of
selling unlicensed copyrighted material. Conference participants
seemed to agree that the emerging threat of Internet piracy will
require closer international cooperation, including deeper
involvement of Russian law enforcement with international
anti-piracy operations. Russia remained the unnamed 'elephant in
the room' as participating rights holders groups, such as the IFPI
and representatives of the MPAA spoke about "the Region's worst
Internet enforcer." In general, industry considers Russia a
safe-haven for internet pirates as Russian laws offer favorable
loopholes on copying for personal use, with little threat of
enforcement.

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5. The Russian Ministry of Interior (MVD) Cybercrimes Unit, known
as "Department K," is charged with all computer-related crimes, but
Internet piracy is reportedly low on their list of priorities. At
the conference, a Department K representative reported some
successes in shutting down websites offering unlicensed software for
download, but admitted that Russia has yet to successfully prosecute
a single Internet piracy case involving music or movies. The
copyright industry explains the reason for the focus on software:
Department K investigators tend to go for the 'low hanging fruit.'

MOSCOW 00001439 002 OF 002


The prosecutor must prove to the court that the minimum monetary
threshold of 250,000 rubles (approximately $8000) of damages has
been met for the crime to be considered "serious" under Russia's
Criminal Code. Because software programs are more expensive than
movies or songs, it's easier and less work to add up each infringing
sale of a software program to meet the minimum threshold.
Contributing to the enforcement problem, Department K can only
investigate computer crimes; it cannot prosecute. Once Department K
determines an infringement, it must turn the investigation over to
the Investigative Department to initiate a criminal case. U.S.
rights holders suspect that communication between Department K and
the Investigative Department is poor, resulting in fewer case
transfers between departments and delays.

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6. Nevertheless, conference organizers and industry agreed that it's
an important and positive sign that the Russian delegation
participated. All conference participants agreed that more
extensive cooperation among the concerned governmental agencies of
Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland as well as other former
Soviet Union and North-East European countries is necessary. A
highlight of the conference was the discussion of international
cooperation in the G8-initiated "24/7 Network" whereby each
signatory country makes available a 24-hour hotline number to
foreign law enforcement officials requesting assistance with
computer crimes cases. Matt Lamberti, DOJ Regional IPR Coordinator
based in Sofia, Bulgaria explained that in the U.S., the DOJ
utilizes the 24/7 Network to facilitate requests from foreign
governments for data preservation from free email services such as
Gmail or Yahoo. The saved email data can later provide vital
support evidence in prosecuting IPR cases. The Russian delegation
at the conference was not aware that the Russian Federation is a
member of the 24/7 Network and were pleased to receive information
about the contact within their own government, as well as the
hotline number in the U.S.

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7. As Internet crime becomes increasingly more international, where
the common scenario for an illegal website includes hosting the
server in one country, the ISP in another, and the payment
processing company in a third, more attention and resources are
needed to aid international cooperation among law enforcement. To
counteract Russia's growing Internet piracy problem, Russia's law
enforcement bodies need to adapt and prioritize their enforcement
efforts. Both participants and organizers discussed future
cooperation and made plans for participation in next year's Regional
conference on digital piracy.

BEYRLE