USTR Annual 'Notorious' Markets Report Adds a Twist
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual report on "notorious" world markets for counterfeit and pirated goods included for the first time a section exposing the growing role of e-commerce platforms in the import of such goods into the…
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U.S. “The greatest risk of importation of counterfeit and pirated goods, harming both U.S. content creators and U.S. consumers, is posed not by foreign flea markets and dark web sites but by inadequate policies and inadequate action by e-commerce companies that market and sell foreign products to American consumers,” said USTR Thursday. “Combating piracy and counterfeits will require sustained effort by both the federal government and by companies that profit from the sale of such goods.” USTR removed Amazon's Canada and India affiliates from the notorious markets list this year, retained the British, German and French sites, and added Amazon's Italian and Spanish sites. The report praised Amazon for partnering with the federal government's National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center on a joint operation to prevent the import of counterfeit goods into the U.S. When Amazon was first identified as a notorious market, it said the listing was politically motivated. Amazon didn't respond to questions Friday. Online sellers of pirated and counterfeit goods are shifting increasingly to social media to carry out their crimes, said USTR.