Bush creates new post to fight global piracy

WASHINGTON - President Bush has created a new senior-level position to fight the global piracy and counterfeiting of American products ranging from Hollywood movies to Detroit auto parts.

"Intellectual-property theft is a major problem around the world. We believe that it is costing US businesses about US$250 billion in lost sales" annually, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in an interview.

"Our businesses thrive on innovation, on ideas, on creativity ... That's how our country has grown. And we cannot allow a world trading environment to be created where patents and trademarks and brands are not respected," Gutierrez said.

Bush has tapped Chris Israel, currently deputy chief of staff for Gutierrez, to head up the administration's anti-piracy efforts. China - where 90 per cent of music and movies are pirate copies - will be a chief priority.

"Frankly, our goal is to reduce (China's piracy levels) to zero," Gutierrez said. He declined to specify a timetable, but acknowledged it could be a lengthy effort.

Israel was a public policy executive at Time Warner Inc., a media company with strong interests in intellectual property rights, before joining the Commerce Department. He also has worked in Congress as a legislative aide.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat whose California district is home to big entertainment companies like DreamWorks and Disney, said he hoped Bush's decision signaled a more serious campaign to stamp out intellectual property theft.

"Thus far, the administration really hasn't thrown its weight behind the anti-piracy effort," Schiff said.

Gutierrez got a first-hand view on how readily available pirated films and music are in China during a visit earlier this month, when he was offered the chance to buy an illegal copy of the newest "Star Wars" movie for US$1, an aide said.

The United States will closely monitor a long list of anti-piracy pledges China made at this month's high-level Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting, including a promise to increase criminal prosecutions, Gutierrez said.

COUNTERFEIT COMPLAINTS

The skyrocketing US trade deficit - which reached a record US$618 billion last year - has compounded US concerns about piracy and counterfeiting

Companies that produce movies, music and software and other intellectual property account for a growing share of what the United States has to sell to the rest of the world.

US manufacturers of products ranging from shampoo to auto safety glass also complain that they often have to compete with counterfeit versions of their own products in China and other markets around the world.

The Commerce Department estimates nearly 7 per cent of the goods in the global market are counterfeit. About 70 per cent of the counterfeit products that enter the United States are from China, Gutierrez said.

Stamping out piracy and counterfeiting is a monumental task that will take a lot of time and resources, said Brad Huther, director of the US Chamber of Commerce's anti-piracy and counterfeiting initiative.

But appointing a single individual to coordinate the federal government's activities is "a very important step forward," Huther said. "For the first time, we really have a strong management framework and lots of visibility and political leadership being shown."

- REUTERS