An annual report about the state of piracy and intellectual property rights issued by the United States Trade Representative has placed Canada and Spain on its Priority Watch list.
Canada was cited for failing to amend its laws to permit ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organization Internet treaties and for not clarifying Internet service providers’ obligations to combating piracy in the online environment.
“Canada continues to gravely lag behind other major trading partners in updating its laws to respond to the tremendous technological changes that have occurred over the past decade and to enable a legitimate market for digital content to flourish,” MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said of the report.
Spain made the list because of extensive Internet piracy in that country.
“The situation as it stands is untenable,” Glickman said. “I sincerely hope that the government of Spain seizes the opportunity to work with rights-holders and ISPs to implement reasonable practices to protect the transmission of creative works online.”
The USTR also kept both China and Russia on the Priority Watch List.
