IPR WORKING GROUP MEETING: MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 002787 SIPDIS WHITE HOUSE ALSO FOR USTR:WILSON, HAFNER, BURKHEAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2019 TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR RS WTO SUBJECT: IPR WORKING GROUP MEETING: MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORECASTS IMPROVED RUSSIAN PERFORMANCE Classified By: ECON MC Matthias Mitman, for reasons 1.4 b&d. ¶1. (C) Emboffs recently met with Ministry of Economic Development (MED) Deputy Minister Stanislav Voskresenskiy to discuss the upcoming U.S. ) Russia IPR Working Group meeting, scheduled to take place in Washington, DC on November 16. Voskresenskiy emphasized that over the last year, Russia's record on IPR enforcement has been on a positive trend. Unlike many western countries, Russia today has one of the more positive pictures to present. He admitted, however, that given how low Russia's previous performance on IPR protection and enforcement was, a positive trend was not difficult to accomplish. He stressed that "it is more difficult to buy pirated goods in Russia today." When asked about their most recent enforcement statistics, Voskresenskiy replied that the Russian delegation would bring them to Washington for the IPR WG meeting. ¶2. (C) Voskresenskiy went on to state that, in his opinion, no country in the world is prepared to fight Internet piracy. He argued that all existing laws, including laws in the U.S., are antiquated and do not address new technological trends. As an example, he stated that You Tube and Google (as You Tube's owner) should be shut down because they do not conform to current Russian IPR laws. He admitted that this was not feasible, but continued to emphasize that these entities need to follow local laws, even if the laws are outdated. We understand the Russians plan to discuss the Google library case in Washington. ¶3. (C) Voskresenskiy also raised two issues emboffs have heard from other sources: a) that Russian made movies are being pirated and sold in the U.S., cutting into Russian box-office sales, and b) that there are U.S.-based Internet sites selling pirated Russian movies for download. Voskresenskiy stated that Russian delegation members to the Working Group are eager to discuss these issues with their U.S. counterparts. ¶4. (C) Comment: Voskresenkiy's comments indicate that the Russians plan to come to the Working Group meeting ready to present a more positive picture of Russia's IPR enforcement efforts, despite the absence of some of the GOR enforcement agencies, in particular, the Ministry of Interior's Cybercrimes Unit. We have heard informally, via Voskresenskiy's staff, that he does not feel the Working Group's agenda is balanced, but we have received no suggested changes from MED. That said, it is clear that the Russian delegation seems ready to speak about the effects of counterfeiting and piracy on their own domestic rightsholders We believe this next Working Group may present us with new opportunities to begin engaging the Russians on cooperative efforts to improve IPR protection. Beyrle