Canada Remains On U.S. Piracy Watch List

The U.S. Trade Representative's annual Piracy Watch List has identified 12 countries on its list of prioritized offenders, again targeting Canada and asking it to address internet piracy. According to a report released today by the USTR office, China and Russia continue to top the Priority Watch List identified by the 14th annual "Special 301 Report." Ten other nations -- Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela -- were also identified. An additional 29 countries were identified on a lower-priority list. Canada was targeted for the third year in a row for failing to pass legislation "that addresses the challenges of piracy over the internet," with the USTO specifying that the country should fully implement guidelines outlined in the WIPO Internet Treaties in order to be removed from the list. The Entertainment Software Association praised the report, with president Michael Gallagher saying in a statement that "One of the fastest ways to get our economy back on track is to incent and reward high value intellectual property like video games." According to a report issued by the ESA in February, 54 percent of illegal video game file sharing worldwide comes from just five countries -- Italy, China, Spain, Brazil and France. With the exception of France, all of these nations have at least "Watch List" status according to the USTR.