The Office of the United States Trade Representative has made public a new edition of its Notorious Markets List earlier this week, identifying “selected markets, including ones on the Internet, that are reportedly engaged in piracy and counterfeiting” across the globe.
Specifically, the blacklist enlarges upon the geographical origin and the dubious commercial nature of marketplaces that “have been the subject of enforcement action or that may merit further investigation for possible intellectual property rights infringements,” says the USTR.
Unsurprisingly, a significant number of the markets identified are reportedly located in China and Eastern Europe. Among them are two popular Russian web sites, Rutracker.ru, which “reportedly allows for the fast identification and download of pirated content,” and Vkontakte.ru, the leading social network in the former Soviet Union which “permits users to provide access to allegedly infringing materials,” notes the USTR.
The two Russian sites are repeat offenders from a previous edition of the list issued in March of this year, but it is noteworthy that the Savelovskiy market in Moscow, which was also on list in March, has been removed. The market is cited as having “implemented a plan to stop the distribution of infringing goods.”
Exposed to frequent police inspections after its initial inclusion on the list, the Savelovskiy market, one of the few surviving Soviet era trading pavilions in Moscow and known as a place to purchase electronic goods, has practically put an end to sales of illegal contents, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported, citing exchanges with a Savelovskiy market representative as well as with Oleg Yashin of piracy watchdog Russian Shield.
Rutracker.ru, however, one of the rare Russian torrents cooperating with copyright owners, should have also been removed from the list, Yashin said.
That Vkontakte users still upload and share music and video files regardless of copyright status is a well-known fact. However, the site’s cooperation with copyright owners and efforts to combat illegal content have been ignored by the USTR.
“The list has little to do with reality,” concludes Yashin.
