Report: Russia, Ukraine Europe's worst for internet piracy

The worst culprits for Internet piracy in 2012 are Canada, China, the Ukraine and Russia. They are described as the “most wanted,” on the International Intellectual Property Alliance's submission to US officials. The Strasbourg based European Audiovisual Observatory has published its own report, looking at internet based content copyright infringements and the laws, or lack thereof, for tackling the problem in Europe and in particular, Russia.

Recent court cases and internet regulation are examined. “Russia lacks a comprehensive special law on the protection of intellectual property rights on the Internet as well as regulation of the Internet itself,” says report author, Dmitry Golovanov. He goes onto suggest that Russia will need to take the issue seriously if legislation is to be brought in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. Russia is due to join the WTO soon. The report exposes apparent weaknesses in Russian legislation. Rulings on content theft are inconsistent and the law is in places contradictory. But the author concludes that the situation is improving and sees evidence of what is described as a coming “sea change” in Russia's fight against internet piracy. Golovanov points to “the recent efforts of the high courts to form unified law-enforcing practice and […] initiatives aimed at reforming the national system of intellectual property law, namely the recent draft law amending the Civil Code,” as evidence of the changes afoot.

The European Audiovisual Observatory was set up in 1992 to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organizations. As well as contributing to conferences, the European Audiovisual Observatory publishes a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, and provides information via its website.