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DE RUEHTH #0373/01 0530530
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O 220530Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8183

UNCLAS E F T O ATHENS 000373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR GR
SUBJECT: YEAR 2007 SPECIAL 301 REVIEW: GREECE 
 
REF: A. STATE 7944 
 
     ¶B. ATHENS 2950 
 
¶1.  Summary. 2006 was a year of strong effort by the GoG on 
IPR.  Responding to the IPR action plan delivered in March as 
a result of the 2006 Special 301 process, the GoG stepped up 
cooperation with local IPR representatives, created special 
working groups to discuss IPR problems and coordinate 
responses, and established a mandatory IPR course for all 
trainee judges.  These efforts, while only a first step 
towards resolving a persistent problem, represent a 
significant achievement for a small country with limited 
resources.  IPR violations remain a problem in Greece, and 
more GoG effort will be necessary to bring piracy down to 
"acceptable" levels.  In particular, the judiciary needs 
increased training and coordination to ensure consistent and 
deterrent penalties are applied to IPR offenders.  However, 
in light of the efforts that the GoG has made to directly 
address the 2006 IPR action plan, we recommend against 
placing Greece on the Watch List this year.  Instead, we 
recommend another realistically structured action plan which 
will simultaneously reward the GoG for its efforts in 2006, 
while setting the bar higher for greater achievements in 
¶2007.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
¶2.  Greece was a Watch List country from 1994 to 2003, 
largely because of rampant broadcast piracy in the country. 
This piracy was brought under control from 2001 to 2003, and 
while broadcast piracy is no longer a problem, other forms of 
IPR violations, including optical media piracy and software 
piracy, continue to plague the country.  Although Greece has 
modern, adequate IPR legislation on the books, in practice, a 
low general understanding of IPR leads to widespread 
tolerance of piracy, even in the judiciary. This tolerance 
has meant that enforcement is not as aggressive as it might 
be, and penalties for violators are usually not enforced at 
deterrent levels. 
 
2006 Action Plan Update 
----------------------- 
¶3.  As a result of these enforcement difficulties, Greece was 
presented with an action plan to help address the areas of 
greatest concern to the USG and U.S. industry in the 2006 
Special 301 process.  This action plan has provided excellent 
results.  Responding to the warning shot fired across its 
bow, the GoG has spent the last year making substantial 
efforts to address all the points raised.  Reftel b provides 
an in-depth analysis of those efforts, but salient points are 
recapped or updated here: 
 
(A) Judicial Training 
--------------------- 
In November, the GoG announced that Copyright and IPR 
protection would be made a mandatory and permanent part of 
the curriculum for all judges-in-training at the National 
School of Judges, starting with the 2007-2008 academic year. 
 
In August, the GoG agreed to our request to hold an IPR 
in-service seminar for sitting and trainee judges.  This 
seminar, to be held at the National School of Judges in 
Thessaloniki in March, will include speakers from Greece's 
Copyright Protection Office (OPI), USPTO, and the EU. 
 
(B) Arrests and Prosecution/Cases in a Timely Manner 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Industry has reported an increase in assistance from GoG 
enforcement agencies, including an increase in the number of 
raids against the vendors of pirated goods.  Industry has 
also favorably reported on the increased attention from the 
Special Tax Authority (YPEE), which has sent software license 
audit letters to companies that employ more than 50 workers, 
and which has made software license audits mandatory whenever 
a tax audit is performed.  Additionally, YPEE (which is 
responsible for combating Internet fraud or piracy) has 
conducted multiple sting operations on behalf of a U.S. 
apparel company, resulting in both arrests and 
seizure/destruction of counterfeit material. 
 
Prosecution of IPR offenders remains more problematic. 
Prosecutors are often overworked, and the court system itself 
is over-burdened.  With requests for postponements, appeals, 
and other motions, it can be 2 to 3 years before a criminal 
IPR case is finally heard and judgment rendered.  Even when 
judgment is finally granted, judges frequently appear to view 
IPR violations as "nuisance crimes," and provide minimal 
fines and suspended jail sentences.  Although these 
suspensions are supposed to automatically trigger harsher 
penalties in the event of recidivism, the poor state of 
record keeping and information sharing in the Greek court 
system means that these prior convictions are rarely 
discovered and enforced.  Improving the protection of IPR in 
the court system will remain a major task for the GoG, 
especially given historical factors that guarantee the 
judiciary tremendous independence in Greece.  This will be a 
lengthy process. 
 
(C) Fighting Piracy 
------------------- 
In November, OPI formed a special coordinating committee to 
bring together private and public participants in the fight 
against IPR violations.  This is the first such group of this 
type in Greece, and it has been very successful.  In addition 
to providing the private sector direct access to GoG 
officials responsible for IPR protection and working towards 
the establishment of task force on enforcement, the group has 
undertaken public outreach activities.  In December, the 
committee aggressively launched an anti-piracy radio spot and 
newspaper ad campaign to encourage holiday shoppers to avoid 
pirated goods and purchase legitimate products from licensed 
retailers. 
 
(D) Establish Attica IPR Session Court 
-------------------------------------- 
The majority of IPR cases in Greece are prosecuted through 
the criminal court system, as opposed to the civil court 
system.  As reported in reftel b, the creation of specialized 
criminal courts for IPR poses significant legal questions in 
Greece, and may not be constitutionally possible. There are 
already special IPR-only courts in Attica and Thessaloniki 
for civil cases, each convening once a month. The GoG is 
considering creating a similar arrangement at the appellate 
level, although we do not believe such a creation is likely, 
as the caseload does not seem to warrant the effort.  Further 
efforts to push the GoG to create special IPR-only criminal 
session courts are unlikely to bear fruit; increased IPR 
training for criminal judges is more likely to be successful. 
 
(E) Work with Apparel Industry 
------------------------------ 
Only one U.S. apparel company has been in contact with post, 
and it has reported it is satisfied with the level of support 
it is receiving.  Although the company does have concerns, 
primarily with customs enforcement, it does not yet view the 
problem as unsolveable through direct cooperation with the 
GoG.  It has reported that it has received excellent GoG 
assistance for raids and customs inspections, and as noted 
earlier, even Internet sting operations.  It has asked that 
the Embassy stand by to provide assistance, but not actively 
intervene on its behalf at this time. 
 
2006 Action Plan Conclusion 
--------------------------- 
¶4.  There is no doubt that further action will be required to 
address all industry concerns, but the level of effort put 
forth by the GoG this year has been commendable.  The action 
plan was remarkably successful in highlighting our concerns 
and providing a roadmap for the GoG to follow.  We are 
encouraged by the process made this last year, and believe 
that there is still more progress to be gained by following a 
similar outline this year. 
 
Notorious Markets 
----------------- 
¶5.  Although the street sale of pirated CDs, DVDs, handbags 
and sunglasses is fairly widespread, we are not aware of any 
particular centers of concentration for the sale of pirated 
goods. 
 
Optical Media Piracy 
-------------------- 
¶6.  Optical Media Piracy remains a concern in Greece. 
Pirated DVDs and CDs are widely available from street 
vendors, and even occasionally from music stores or DVD 
rental outlets.  Greece has limited industrial-scale DVD and 
CD production, and no solid link has emerged between these 
facilities and piracy in the country.  We have been informed 
that DVD-R and CD-Rs now constitute the vast majority of 
pirated optical media seized; these products are largely 
produced on home computers in small, virtually on-demand, 
quantities. 
 
Software Piracy 
--------------- 
¶7.  According to industry representatives, unlicensed sharing 
of software continues to be the major source of software 
piracy in Greece.  The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has 
been receiving increased support from the YPEE, however, 
including increased audit activity and new regulations 
requiring YPEE officials to audit software licenses whenever 
they conduct an official tax audit.  Additionally, YPEE has 
promised to aggressively follow-up with companies who have 
failed to respond to their initial audit, as well as to 
conduct spot audits on a sample of those audits already 
received. 
 
Use/Procurement of Government Software 
-------------------------------------- 
¶8.  The GoG officially requires that all software in use by 
official agencies be properly licensed.  The Ministry of 
Interior has actively highlighted these requirements through 
all levels of government, although we are not aware of any 
specific instances of raids or other enforcement activities 
taking place.  The GoG has also signed an agreement with 
Microsoft to promote the purchase of licensed copies of 
Microsoft products in the government, in return for expanded 
home-use user licenses and technical assistance programs. 
However, allegations continue that government offices turn a 
blind eye to internal piracy (generally the installation of a 
single licensed program on multiple machines).  In the case 
best known to post, a U.S. software company is attempting to 
negotiate a solution to alleged IP violations (unlicensed 
software sharing) by the GoG (Greek State Employment 
Association).  The GoG has not been responsive so far. 
 
TRIPS Compliance and IPR Treaties 
--------------------------------- 
¶9. Greece is fully TRIPS compliant. Existing national 
legislation was bolstered with the ratification by parliament 
of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and 
Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).  Greece is in compliance with all 
EU IPR directives with the legislative ratification of 
3524/2007 Copyright Act, which is in full conformity with EU 
Enforcement Directive 2004/48 regarding copyright protection. 
 
Data Protection 
--------------- 
¶10.  Post has received no negative reports on Greece's 
protection of test data as it relates to IPR protection.  In 
November, we did receive a complaint about Greece's pricing 
board policy which was felt to constitute an infringement of 
patent protection.  The complaint, however, was not entirely 
clear in its formulation, and there was no follow up to 
post's request for additional information. 
 
Production, Import and Export of Counterfeit Goods 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶11.  Greece is not known to be a major producer or exporter 
of counterfeit goods.  Greece does have porous borders, 
however, and inadequate border and customs control.  As a 
result, and as a Schengen member, Greece appears to be a 
favored port of entry for counterfeit goods to enter the EU. 
A percentage of these counterfeit products are sold on the 
local economy, but the majority are destined for more 
lucrative markets in Germany and France.  The GoG has agreed 
to establish an informal working group on customs issues that 
will include representatives from the Ministry of Economy and 
the Hellenic Customs Service.  The USG side will include 
members of the economic section, FCS, and DHS Immigrations, 
Customs, and Enforcement.  The working group will discuss 
methods of cooperation to improve the Hellenic Customs 
Service's ability to effectively control the importation of 
counterfeit products. 
 
Enforcement 
----------- 
¶12.  Enforcement, writ broadly, remains the most difficult 
situation for Greece. Police assistance can be counted on in 
organizing raids or collecting evidence.  Local industry 
representatives also report no major complaints regarding the 
assistance they receive from police or prosecutors as cases 
move to trial, although the process can be slow.  More 
serious complaints are made about the judicial process, and 
in particular, the unwillingness of Greek judges to apply 
meaningfully deterrent sentences.  (Note: Reftel b provides a 
detailed breakdown of the statistics available to post on 
arrests, prosecutions, and imposition of sentences.) 
Although the issue of judicial independence remains extremely 
sensitive in Greece, the GoG has taken steps to address these 
concerns by introducing a mandatory IPR course for all judges 
in training, and organizing a day-long seminar on IPR for 
sitting judges. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶13.  Greece does not have an unblemished record on IPR.  In 
particular, the Greek public has a very limited appreciation 
for or understanding of IPR, does not generally see the issue 
as a criminal act, and does not widely support active IPR 
enforcement.  The judiciary's reluctance to enforce maximum 
sentences for IPR violators is a reflection of Greek 
society's view on the issue, not an aberration.  Even local 
IPR representatives acknowledge this, and the more proactive 
ones are actively engaged in public outreach programs, 
including special focus on elementary and secondary 
schoolchildren, to raise the level of IPR understanding.  The 
GoG, through its Office of Copyright Protection, has been 
particularly active in this regard, working to put IPR 
lectures into the Greek school-system at all levels, as well 
as supporting IPR awareness contests for schoolchildren. 
This is a long-term solution, but the only one that offers a 
reasonable chance of eventually turning the tide on piracy in 
Greece. 
 
¶14.  In the short- to medium-term, the GoG's efforts in 2006 
are all the more impressive because of the general 
population's unconcern with IPR (if not open sympathy for IPR 
violators, who are frequently perceived to be poor immigrants 
simply trying to make ends meet.)  From our perspective the 
2006 action plan was a remarkable success; it galvanized the 
GoG into action and focused them on USG and industry 
concerns.  To place the GoG on the Watch List this year would 
be counterproductive as it would suggest that the 2006 action 
plan was never a sincere offer and that it was our intention 
to watch list Greece regardless of the outcome.  A better 
answer would be to create a 2007 action plan that will move 
the ball forward on IPR, while acknowledging the real efforts 
made by the GoG so far.  End comment. 
RIES