VZCZCXRO0500
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHHK #2091/01 1390927
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190927Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6779
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002091 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS DOJ 
DOJ FOR ASHARRIN 
STATE PASS USPTO 
USPTO FOR TBROWNING 
STATE FOR EB/IPC/EFELSING 
BEIJING FOR ECON MCOHEN 
BANGKOK FOR DOJ CSONDERBY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ECON CH HK
SUBJECT:  IPR ENFORCEMENT WORKSHOP - "CREATING A STRONGER 
DETERRENT" HELD IN HONG KONG, MAY 15-16 2006 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Post hosted a successful intellectual 
property rights (IPR) enforcement workshop titled, "Creating 
A Stronger Deterrent," on May 15-16, 2006.   Participants 
were particularly interested in the Hong Kong Government's 
(HKG) experiences in combating online piracy and in the 
discussion on how to establish deterrent sentencing, with 
one Thai participant saying that Thailand was interested in 
possibly revising its sentencing guidelines as a result of 
the workshop.  Participants and panel members included law 
enforcement officials and judges from mainland China, the 
Hong Kong Government (HKG), Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, 
Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United 
States.  The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (CED) 
strongly supported the workshop with opening remarks from 
CED Commissioner Timothy Tong, a comprehensive presentation 
about IPR enforcement in Hong Kong, and a tour of their 
advanced anti-internet piracy lab on the second day of the 
workshop.  Conference participants were able to discuss and 
share information on best practices for establishing 
deterrent sentencing and on the latest developments in 
online IPR protection. End Summary. 
 
Positive Feedback from Participants 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Participants in the workshop found the Hong Kong 
Government's (HKG) experiences in combating online piracy to 
be particularly valuable; many participants were especially 
impressed by Judge Colin Mackintosh's account of his 
experience in presiding over a landmark BitTorrent case and 
his reasoning in setting a relatively strong penalty against 
the defendant in that case.  Participants also appreciated 
the discussion on establishing deterrent sentencing, with 
one Thai participant saying that Thailand was interested in 
possibly revising its sentencing guidelines as a result of 
the workshop.  Many participants noted that the hypothetical 
case small group session was a valuable opportunity for them 
to frankly exchange their views on differing regional norms 
on IPR enforcement. 
 
Strong Support from Hong Kong Customs 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Hong Kong Customs & Excise Department Commissioner 
Timothy Tong delivered opening remarks emphasizing Hong 
Kong's strong IPR record and what he termed to be the well- 
placed position of the United States to hold such an event. 
Drawing from business management principles, Tong said that 
for an organization to take meaningful action, it must have 
"VCS":  V for value, something worth doing -- which Hong 
Kong recognizes in pursuing substantial penalties to deter 
IPR infringers; C for capacity, i.e., resources, which Hong 
Kong has provided through many enforcement officers as well 
as the backing for multiple raids and follow-through with 
regard to locations where infringement takes place; and S 
for support, which in Hong Kong is unqualified among policy 
makers across numerous sectors such as trade, tourism, and 
investment. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tong made reference to Hong Kong last year handing 
down the world's first conviction for the use of BitTorrent 
software to facilitate online video sharing.  Digital video 
uploads subsequently fell by 80 percent.  The case is so 
well known that the perpetrator polled as "the most 
unfortunate person of the year" in a local newspaper.  There 
is, however, some public sympathy for infringers like this, 
which is why the HKG has embarked on youth- focused programs 
to generate greater support from the public to take actions 
that maintain a high standard of IPR protection here. 
 
¶5. (SBU) CED Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau 
Senior Superintendent Tam Yiu-keung gave a detailed 
presentation on Hong Kong's multi-pronged strategy for 
effective IPR enforcement: enforcement action, legislation, 
international cooperation, publicity and public education, 
and a strong partnership with IPR stakeholders. 
Participants in the workshop were also treated to a tour of 
CED's advanced anti-internet piracy lab, during which CED 
officials described the formation of the lab and CED's 
Computer Forensic Special Interest Group, Computer Analysis 
 
HONG KONG 00002091  002 OF 002 
 
 
and Response Team, and Computer Forensic Laboratory.  Since 
2000, the anti-internet piracy team has processed 57 
internet piracy cases and arrested 92 persons involved in 
online IPR violations. 
 
IPR Overview, Deterrent Sentencing, Cross-Border Issues 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Attorney 
Advisor Timothy Browning presented an overview of the 
current state of IPR protection and discussed the legal 
framework upon which international IPR protection is based, 
including a thorough discussion of Trade Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and TRIPs Plus, which 
includes the World Intellectual Property Organization's 
(WIPO) Internet Treaties.  U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 
Senior Counsel Andrea Sharrin described the U.S. 
prosecutorial framework for IPR cases, including the 
statutory and sentencing framework for IPR crimes. 
 
¶7. (SBU) U.S. DOJ IP Law Enforcement Coordinator for Asia 
Chris Sonderby discussed the importance of close cross- 
border communications, especially when considering the 
complex international nature of recent IPR criminal 
ventures.  In particular, acting against online IPR 
violations requires coordinated efforts against servers and 
agents that may be located in several different countries. 
 
Latest Developments in Online IPR Crimes 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Representatives from Time-Warner, the Motion 
Picture Association (MPA), the International Federation of 
The Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Business Software 
Alliance (BSA), and Pfizer discussed current trends in 
online IP violations and the need for strong deterrent 
sentences to combat such violations.  Pfizer representative 
Donald Shruhan discussed the prevalence of counterfeit 
pharmaceuticals being sold through illicit online pharmacies 
and presented vivid examples of the health dangers involved 
in using such pharmaceuticals, including an example in which 
counterfeit pills were coated with lead-based paint to 
achieve the look of the genuine product. 
 
¶9. (SBU) IFPI representative Mayseey Leong discussed the 
history of peer-to-peer file (P2P) sharing and described the 
operating concepts behind popular P2P programs such as Bit- 
Torrent.  Since 2001, she continued, music sales in Asia 
have dropped by 26%, mostly as a result of P2P file sharing. 
In response, IFPI has recently begun an initiative to 
aggressively pursue individual online IPR violators.  As 
part of the initiative, IFPI has successfully asked the Hong 
Kong Judiciary to force internet service providers (ISPs) in 
Hong Kong to provide individual internet protocol (IP) 
addresses in civil cases.  Through such industry 
initiatives, aggressive government enforcement actions, and 
greater public awareness, the overall broadband growth is 
now far outstripping the spread of internet piracy. 
 
Cunningham