International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) addressed the US Chamber of Commerce with a request to strip Ukraine from preferential duty-free entry of certain groups of products because of the high level of piracy in the country.
Speaking a roundtable in Gorshenin Institute on 3 March MP Mykola Knyazhytskyy said the IIPA report suggests that Ukraine should without delay tale measures provided by the law 3081-d, which has been vetoed by President Poroshenko. The bill, among other things, envisages liability for camcording.
"The legislation for copyright protection must take into account all the provisions stipulated by the law 3081-d," said.
"As a result of the lack of proper legislation and effective mechanisms to fight it, online piracy in Ukraine is booming. Although there are positive factors such as the closing and EX.ua FS.to, but this is not enough, and the closure was not the result of changes in legislation," the lawmaker said.
During 2016, no legislative changes have implemented in the sphere of copyright protection, so the IIPA recommends that the US government cancelled the preferences granted to Ukraine on the basis of the general system of preferences, Knyazhytskyy quoted from the Alliance report.
Special 301 is an annual review process led by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). U.S. trade law ("Special 301") requires an annual review of intellectual property protection and market access practices in foreign countries. This is a list of countries that violate intellectual property rights. Depending on the severity of the offense, a country may fall into one of three categories: Watch list (country under supervision), Priority watch list or Priority foreign country, which indicates nations failing to provide adequate and effective protection for U.S. intellectual property.
Hitting the last group is fraught with trade sanctions.