USTR Releases Special 301 Report Citing Possible Registrar Involvement in Piracy

March 6, 2015 |Intellectual Property

The issue of some domain registrars allegedly supporting online piracy was highlighted in the U.S. Trade Representative Special 301 out-of-cycle report on “notorious” IP markets. The report, which USTR released Thursday, reviews IP protections and other market practices in foreign countries and highlights those nations with the most problematic IP standards (see 1502060043). ICANN has an agreement with registrars that they should act when “notified of illegal activity,” including piracy and counterfeiting, said the report. “Some registrars, however, reportedly disobey court orders and other communications, including from government enforcement authorities,” said USTR. “Some registrars apparently even advertise to the online community that they will not take action against illicit activity, presumably to incentivize registrations by owners and operators of illicit sites.” The report singled out several infringing websites as particularly problematic, including 4shared.com (British Virgin Islands), Baixeturbo.org (U.K.) and Bajui.com (Canada). “The theft we're shining a light on today is detrimental not only to creators and inventors, but also to consumers, who may be deceived and even endangered by Notorious Markets engaging in counterfeiting and piracy,” said USTR Michael Froman in a separate news release. “The infringing marketplaces listed in the USTR report -- many of which exist online -- undermine this framework that benefits both content creators and consumers,” said MPAA CEO Chris Dodd in a news release. “These notorious markets enable the theft of content on a massive scale, diminishing U.S. competitiveness, discouraging reinvestment from creators, and ultimately harming the consumer experience.” IP groups filed comments earlier this year suggesting which markets should be added to the list (see 1502060043); the Electronic Frontier Foundation slammed the report as “unfair” to foreign countries like Vietnam and Russia (see 1502090037).