IPR SUCCESSES AND STRATEGIES IN ESTONIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000079 EEB/TTP/IPE FOR JO ELLEN URBAN AND JOSH HALLOCK EUR/NB FOR MIGUEL RODRIGUES DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR DOC PASS TO USPTO FOR MICHAEL SMITH USEU FOR GREG GARRAMONE MOSCOW FOR USPTO TRACY PERELLI SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD KIPR ECON EN SUBJECT: IPR SUCCESSES AND STRATEGIES IN ESTONIA Ref: (A) 08 Tallinn 113 (B) Helsinki 57 (C) Tallinn 48 (D) 08 Tallinn 326 TALLINN 00000079 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: Good Embassy partnerships with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO),local NGOs, the business community and the Government of Estonia (GOE) will allow us to achieve our MSP goal to protect IPR and combat piracy in the digital environment. Inter-agency law enforcement training seminars (Ref B) and public awareness programs with the American Chamber of Commerce in Estonia (AmCham),Estonias Ministry of Education, and local schools are both part of our strategy. Post is also encouraging the GOE to see digital piracy in the larger context of fighting cyber crime, and enhancing cyber security. Tallinn thanks USPTO and Embassy Helsinki for excellent support and coordination on all these fronts. End Summary. Public-Private Partnerships: USPTO, AmCham, and Estonian Educators ¶2. (U) Estonia has one of the highest internet penetration rates in the world, so we have placed special focus on IPR activities. USPTO has been our closest ally in these efforts and the payoff is clear: Estonia has stayed off of USTRs Special 301 watch list for over seven years. Since 2006, we have hosted three USPTO-funded seminars for over 150 Estonian officials on IPR standards and enforcement. In addition, four police officers, a customs officer, a prosecutor and two lawyers from the Estonian Patent Office have attended USPTO's Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) since 2005. As a result, these officials have been trained in U.S. methods and understand how IPR is vital to economic growth. This new cadre of prosecutors and attorneys will be needed to enable greater enforcement of IP laws in Estonia. ¶3. (U) Critical to future success is a focus on both law enforcement efforts and reduction of demand for online pirated materials. In cooperation with USPTO and the IPR Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Estonia (AmCham),Embassy Tallinn has initiated several projects to raise public awareness and educate students and teachers: On March 20, AmChams IPR committee (our most active local partner) held its third annual Teachers Training seminar, focusing on Estonian youth. These seminars, sponsored by Microsoft, and endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Research (MOER),have trained over 200 teachers from around the country on how to present IPR in the classroom. In coordination with Embassy Helsinki, a Finnish author presented an IPR handbook for teachers at this years conference, which we translated and posted on Estonias Ministry of Culture IPR site www.autor.ee. -- With Embassy guidance and support, AmChams IPR committee succeeded in getting the Finnish digital antipiracy handbook and other IPR materials loaded on 4,000 laptop computers that the MOER distributed to Estonian teachers in 2008-09, despite serious budget cuts. -- As a result of AmChams and Embassy lobbying, MOER will, for the first time ever, include IPR in the new Estonian national school curriculum to be launched in 2010. AmCham committee members such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have agreed to develop teaching materials for Estonian schools. To leverage this requirement, the Embassy has launched a joint project with AmCham to provide each school in Estonia with a copy of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) handbook Learn from the Past, Create the Future. The Arts and Copyright. Post used USPTO funds to translate TALLINN 00000079 002 OF 002 2,000 copies into Estonian and adapt it in accordance with domestic legislation. -- In September 2008, the Embassy launched a contest to create a public service announcement on digital piracy in coordination with the Marketing and Advertising Department of Tallinn University (TLU). Four student teams created PSAs in the form of a web-based ad that can be placed on popular Estonian websites. IPR experts from the Estonian Organization for Copyright Protection (Ref C) and the Business Software Alliance advised the teams. The Charge announced the winner at a reception on March 3 attended by local PR firms, BSA, a Member of Parliament and GOE officials. Participants committed to remain closely engaged with us on anti- piracy efforts. TLU also agreed to give all students three academic credits for their efforts. The project provided a forum for engaging our primary audience - young, computer savvy students - on the importance of respecting IPR in the digital environment. Post will launch the PSA and a parallel media campaign in conjunction with World IP Day in April. The Big Picture: Fighting Digital Piracy as a form of Cyber Crime ¶4. (U) One of our biggest obstacles to getting greater enforcement of IPR in the digital environment here is the GOE's Ministry of Justice, and prosecutors' reluctance to give such cases higher priority. IPR crimes compete for resources with physical crime, terrorism and many other law enforcement priorities. We know of several cases where Estonian police have dropped IP cases handed to them on a platter by industry groups, for 'lack of state interest.' We are working closely with the police and other local contacts to ensure the GOE puts greater emphasis on prosecution of significant cases in the coming year. This will help Estonia avoid gaining a reputation as a safe haven for digital piracy. In a recent positive development, the Estonian Central Criminal Police (CCP) approached us with interest in sending one of their officers to the upcoming USPTO IPR conference in Helsinki. (Ref B) As the CCP deals only with more serious crimes, this may signal a willingness by the GOE to increase attention on this issue in the future. ¶5. (U) Estonia leads international efforts to promote cyber security (Ref D),and NATO accredited Estonia's Center for Cooperative Cyber Defense as a NATO Center of Excellence in May 2008. Post is working to capitalize on Estonia's engagement on cyber security to argue that effective IPR protection is a key component of the larger effort against cyber crime. Law enforcement and network security professionals agree that there is substantial overlap between criminal activity aimed at credit card fraud, online identity theft, digital piracy, network hacking, denial of service (DOS) attacks, and other threats to legitimate e-commerce. Through training, lobbying the GOE and media efforts, we will stress the 'spin-off' benefits of Estonia's growing core competency in cyber defense: a safer and more favorable environment for innovation and growth in the digital economy. ¶6. (U) Comment: Enhancing protection of IPR is an MSP priority for Embassy Tallinn. In this fight, regional cooperation - particularly sharing best practices and information - has proved to be extremely useful and cost-effective. Post would especially like to thank Embassy Helsinki for their liaison with Finnish IPR experts for all law enforcement training seminars, and for their assistance finding appropriate teaching materials for Estonian schools. End Comment. DECKER