The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative periodically publishes a list of online and physical marketplaces that considers to be “notorious markets” for counterfeiting and intellectual property piracy. On February 28, 2011 the USTR released its latest notorious markets report, which includes markets such as:
- the number one-ranked website in China, which the report cites for enabling between 50 and 75 percent of all illegal music downloads in that country;
- a Russian website that was formerly the world’s largest server-based pirate music website;
- several Chinese B-2-B and B-2-C websites; and
- physical markets in China, Russia, South America, Poland, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and India.
The USTR states that the purpose of the report is to “shine a light’ on the markets and to “urge[] the responsible authorities in these markets to intensify efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets, and to use the information contained in the Notorious Markets List to pursue legal actions where appropriate.”
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