Notorious_Markets_Report_2013_10-25-13 (1).pdf
|Views: 576
|Likes: 0
Published by torrentfreak
RIAA
RIAA
More info:
Availability:
See more
See less
Filed via www.regulations.gov, Docket No. USTR–2013–0030Stanford K. McCoy, Esq. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Intellectual Property and InnovationOffice of the U.S. Trade RepresentativeWashington, DC 20508Re: RIAA Written Submission Re: 2013 Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of NotoriousMarkets: Request for Public Comments, 78 Fed. Reg. 57924 (September 20, 2013), 78 Fed.Reg. 60367 (October 1, 2013) (Extending Deadline)Dear Mr. McCoy:Please find the submission of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) inresponse to the federal register notice in the above-captioned matter. The RecordingIndustry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotesthe creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. Our members are the musiclabels that comprise the most vibrant record industry in the world. RIAA members create,manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate recorded music producedand sold in the United States.We greatly welcome this initiative designed to expose businesses who operate notoriousmarkets for infringing materials, and who generally either directly profit from the sale or other distribution of infringing materials, or who profit from facilitating such theft—in many casesthrough the sale of advertising space. While there may be a wide range of servicesdedicated to theft, they share one common effect—they unfairly deny creators theopportunity to generate revenue from the commercial use of their works. Some sites are socentral in the activities of a particular society that they almost single-handedly prevent thedevelopment of a legitimate online music marketplace—sites such as Russia’s vKontakte,Ukraine’s ex.ua, or Vietnam’s Zing. Others actively champion their supposed subversivenessby proclaiming to be advocates for freedom of expression at the same time that theyundermine the careers of creators whose very existence is based on expression—sites likethe Pirate Bay, FilesTube which proclaims “Download Everything!” or Brazil’sDegraçaémaisgostoso.org, the English translation of which is “Free is much better.”We want to take a moment to reflect on the fact that thanks in large part to the efforts of theUS Government in highlighting illicit practices, and in effecting coordinated law enforcementactions, some of the notorious markets that we identified in last year’s submission no longer feature in this filing. We highlight in particular the impact of the MegaUpload action whichcreated a new sense of accountability amongst operators of cyberlockers, and which ledmany operators to implement new security measures that limited their function as hubs for the distribution of infringing materials. For example, Depositfiles which featured in our 2012submission has implemented Audible Magic filtering.This is not an exercise that takes places in a vacuum. RIAA members are excited about thepotential of the internet and other communication technologies to provide an efficient meansof distribution to music lovers globally, and record companies and their licensed delivery
partners continue to innovate and expand. Ashighlighted in the 2013 IFPI Digital MusicReport,
“At the start of 2011, the major international [digital music] services were present in23 countries. Two years later, they are in more than 100. Many countries, such as Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam saw their first digital music service open in 2012. Globalization isopening up new markets, with record companies now able to reach consumers in territorieswhere there was little previous retailing infrastructure. There are now more than 500 licensed digital music services operating worldwide, offering 30 million tracks to consumers.”
http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2013.pdf But no matter how we innovate, we are operating in the shadow of a problem that dwarfs thelegitimate sector. This infringement undercuts legitimate services, prejudices the careers of artists, harms investors in content production, and cheats law-abiding consumers. Despitethe marketplace efforts made by the creative industries to meet and anticipate consumer demand for digital services, and the vigorous efforts of the creative industries and the U.S.government to take legal action against copyright theft, many avenues remain that enableprofiteering from infringement. As long as these avenues are open, America’s economy andculture will be harmed. These avenues will not be closed without the commitment andcooperation of all responsible players in the online ecosystem. If all of the relevant playerscombine their efforts to combat the scourge of online infringement, we are confident that thelegitimate marketplace for cultural products will thrive.We hope that the information provided herein will be helpful in illuminating the practices of some of the worst actors in global markets, and that by addressing these markets, we cantake a big step towards creating greater accountability that will expand opportunities for legitimate commerce. Quite simply, there is no place for open and notorious theft in acivilized world, regardless of how that theft is accomplished. Addressing the conduct of thesenotorious markets for piracy will go a long way towards promoting the rule of law, fuellingcreativity and innovation, and maintaining US economic competitiveness.Respectfully submitted,Neil TurkewitzExecutive Vice President, InternationalRecording Industry Association of America
Notorious Markets Report 2013vKontakte
The website at vww.vk.com, operated by vKontakteLtd is the most popular online socialnetwork in Russia and is also available to a wider international audience in many languagesincluding English. It has in excess of 80 million registered users and web monitoringcompanies report that 35 million unique Russian users visit the site every month. Accordingto Alexa, the site is the 22nd most popular site worldwide and the 2nd most popular site inRussia. According to public filings, London-listed Russian internet company, Mail.ru, holds39.99% ownership share in the company. In 2013, it was reported that United CapitalPartners, US$3.5 billion fund owned by Ilya Shcherbovich bought a 48 per cent stake. Theremaining share is reported to be owned by Pavel Durov, a founder of the site.The site’s music functionality enables users to upload and share music and video files viaprofile pages, which includes hundreds of thousands of unlicensed copyright works. Itsdedicated content search engine enables all other members of VK to search for and instantlystream infringing content uploaded by any other user, giving VK an unfair competitive edgeover other social networks that do not offer free access to unlicensed material, as well asover licensed music platforms. In addition, third party software developers have distributedmobile “apps” i.e. software applications that enable non-VK members, via their smartphones,to search for and download infringing content available on the site.Given the number of registered member accounts, the scale of damage to rights holders isstaggering.In copyright infringement litigation brought by Russian record label Gala Records againstvKontakte Ltd, the courts have found that the site’s operators had failed to take reasonablemeasures in response to notices from copyright owners, and ordered some limitedcompensation for infringements of specific repertoire.
EX.UA
This site is a household name in the Ukraine and is hosted by Data Centre “Volia” (Kyiv,Ukraine). The site allows users to download and/or stream a full range of content includingmusic and videos, movies, TV series and programs, e-books, audiobooks and software. Thesite is accessible from the Ukraine, Russia and several CIS countries.It is possible to search for infringing material both via the “search” function and viadirectories according to the type of content, for example video and audio. The site appeals toa wide audience due to its “one-click” streaming function. The website is also easy tonavigate, which increases the range of age groups who access the service. According to Alexa the site is the 16th most popular website in the Ukraine, and its global rankingincreased in 2013, compared to previous year and is currently 1,925.Notice and take downs are completely inefficient as once an infringing link isremoved, thesame infringing content re-appearswithin days, if not hours, under a new link. It is believedthat administrators themselves are uploading most of the content under the login details of “regular users.”
