Sunday, February 16, 2014

Notorious markets in SE Asia 2014


Every year the US government's USTR office reviews what it calls the 'notorious markets', that is online and physical markets which are major centers of criminal piracy and counterfeiting. See here for previous reports. Most of these are based in remote countries with poor legal systems which is why they remain publicly active.

South East Asian locations have appeared before but the number seems fewer than in the past, with only Indonesia's list increasing and limited enforcement activity occurring. The SE Asian 'notorious markets' are listed as:

A. Vietnam's zing.vn website - a social media and news portal, which also has an infringing deep-linking music portal. Zing.vn’s operators say they are trying to legalize. See here for previous reports about this.

B. Indonesia's capital Jakarta has its infamous Harco Glodok a center for consumer electronic goods distribution and retail. Efforts such as warnings and a formal letter from the Jakarta Governor achieved nothing. The USTR has added Mangga Dua Mall, Ambassador Mall/ITC and Ratu Plaza, 3 well known malls in Jakarta for fake goods, including software, games, movies, and music as well as pirated software on computers.

C. Thailand has numerous markets in the list. Pantip Plaza, Klong Thom, Saphan Lek and Baan Mor (all in Bangkok) have been the subject of much ineffective enforcement. MBK Shopping Center was a target of the National IP Center for Enforcement, but it too has not improved. Talad Nat on Wireless Road is near the U.S. Embassy, and apparently authorities did not take action when requested. A list of others in and outside Bangkok is included.

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