Posted by Andrew on January 22, 2002 at 19:50:06:
In Reply to: Re: ATTENTION: unfair sanctions against Ukraine posted by Yash on January 22, 2002 at 18:25:14:
The argument of where CD piracy is higher is of little substance for those who want to punish Ukraine. Perhaps, I could understand their logic when they say that Ukraine needs to adopt copyright laws common around the world. The *problem* is that Ukraine is bullied into adopting the law which is far harsher and simply cannot exist in a democratic country.
Besides huge piracy levels thorought the world (I recently tried to buy a CD burner in the local Best Buy, they were all sold out), there are many other arguments in Ukraine's favor. One of them is that Ukrainians cannot afford to buy $15 CDs. You can't ask people to spend 20-30% of their salaries on a single CD. So they will try to obtain those CDs that they can buy. The $3 CD is still more expensive in relation to Ukrainian salaries than $15 CD in relation to the US salaries. Since US recording industry will never allow to sell $3 CDs in Ukraine, they are effectively forcing CD piracy. Now they want a very harsh law that will force bigger crimes, such as bribes and corruption.
: CD piracy is also much higher in Germany than in Ukraine but the German economy is too strong for the USA to attempt to sanction.
: : Please read the artcle posted in the "News" section: http://www.brama.com/cgi-bin/rd.cgi?http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/020122/l2285437_1.html
: : After thoroughly studying this question, it seems that the sanctions are extremely unfair to Ukraine. They can truly hurt Ukrainian economy and people.
: : Please read this document from the Office of the US Trade Representative:
: : http://www.ustr.gov/pdf/2000_ukraine.pdf
: : Compare the section "Intellectual Property Rights Protection" to, e.g., these:
: : http://www.ustr.gov/pdf/2000_russia.pdf
: : http://www.ustr.gov/pdf/2000_china.pdf
: : It is obvious that Ukraine is unfairly singled out for trade sanctions, even though the levels of CD piracy are significantly higher in Russia and China. The level of per-capita CD piracy is about twice as high in Russia. While it is enough for China to print an anti-piracy article in the Communist newspaper, Ukraine is required to implement a law which could never be adopted in the US due to the huge infringements with the personal freedoms granted by the Constitution (freedom of speech, unlawful arrest of property, etc.).
: : This is a very serious issue and immediate action is required to preserve good relations between Ukraine and the US.