Quote:US may list Thailand as a top IP pirate

(TNA) – The United States is poised to place Thailand on its special watch list next month, as industry pressure groups claim the country is one of the the most rampant pirates of intellectual property.

Puangrat Assawapisit, Director-General of the Intellectual Property Department, revealed that five private-sector groups including music and movie, clothes, pharmaceuticals, cable television and books, out of 13 groups in the US complained that Thailand failed to ease problems on continuing intellectual property piracy in various forms.

Worse still, rather than limiting, or containing existing piracy, the groups concluded that the practice appeared to be growing worse in Thailand, and is becoming rampant.

There is a mounting concern Thailand might be put on a US special watch list instead of the watch list which it is placed at present, Mrs. Puangrat said, adding that the department would coordinate with agencies concerned this month to accelerate explaining to the US that Thailand had not been indifferent in coping with intellectual property piracy.

"At present, many groups of Thai producers are worried that the US will place Thailand in its special watch list instead of a watch list for its failure to address the intellectual property piracy.

"Should Thailand be really placed on the US special watch list, the generalised system of preferences the US just renewed for Thailand may be revised," she said.

"Now, no one can tell that whether the US will put Thailand on its special watch list. But if Thailand is really placed on the list, many Thai export products shipped to the US will be hard hit."

Earlier this year, Mrs. Puangrat said, the department had submitted a written clarification contesting what American authorities call Thailand's failure to cope efficiently with intellectual property piracy to the US Embassy in Bangkok.

It had also accelerated sending all relevant information to clarify doubts to the US government since it believed the prevention and suppression of intellectual property piracy in various forms, particularly copied tapes and compact discs, had been done quite efficiently in the past five or six years, she said.

Bangkok Post March 12, 2007
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I'd better order some more software from Panthip!
JIC.

like they think it can be stopped !!!

They caused the MP3 discs to disappear from the thai market. Was one of my favourite collector items: one disc with a dozen albums/CDs on it for just 100 to 150 baht.
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