VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSK #0156/01 0521614
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211614Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5678
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

UNCLAS MINSK 000156 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE BOGER 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR CHOE-GROVES 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/OIPR PETERS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ETRD ECON BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS SPECIAL 301 REVIEW 
 
REF:  A. 06 MINSK 195 
 
      ¶B. STATE 7944 
 
¶1. Summary and recommendation: Post once again recommends placement 
of Belarus on the watch list for 2007.  Little has changed since 
Post's 2005 Special 301 input (ref A).  Pirated optical media 
remains the norm, being readily available across the country, 
including in state-owned stores, and enforcement was minimal and 
impeded by deficiencies in Belarusian law.  The GOB was sluggish in 
providing Post with even minimal information on TRIP compliance and 
enforcement.  Nevertheless, recent GOB cooperation with the WIPO is 
noteworthy.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Post will attempt to answer the questions presented in ref B. 
However, the GOB's main IPR body, the National Center for 
Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), failed to answer most of 
post's questions. 
 
Optical Media Piracy 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  Optical media piracy remained the single largest type of IPR 
violation in Belarus during 2006.  Pirated optical media is thenorm 
in Belarus.  Dozens of kiosks and markets in Minsk and 
elsewhere in the country openly sell pirated media (software, DVDs 
and CDs) at low prices.  Pirated media was routinely sold in state- 
owned stores.  Although prices in Minsk for pirate DVD movies 
doubled over the year, from around 9,000 rubles (USD 4.5) to around 
18,000 rubles (USD 9), many movies were available on DVD before they 
appeared in regional theaters. In some cases American movies were 
available on DVD in Belarus before being released in theaters in the 
U.S.  An English-language version of "Children of Men" (2006), for 
example, was available on DVD nearly a month before its U.S. 
release. 
 
¶4.  Several vendors, mainly the Minsk chain "Ministry of Sound," 
claimed to sell only licensed media.  While post cannot comment 
whether they held to this, prices in these stores were certainly 
much higher than elsewhere in the country (for example, a new 
Madonna CD sells at the Ministry of Sound for BYR 55,000, or USD 
25.60, compared to BYR 4,000/USD 1.86 at most other stores).  Other 
major stores sold some older DVDS at prices comparable to U.S. 
retailers.  For example, Poloff observed Harry Potter and the 
Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004) and "Derailed" (2005) on sale in two of 
Minsk's recently-opened hypermarkets and in "The Sixth Floor," a 
music shop widely-known to have sold pirated material in the past, 
for BYR 22,500 (USD 10.50).  However, it is doubtful whether more 
expensive media meant legal media.  In the same stores, Poloff also 
noted a DVD of the movie "The Guardian" (2006) was available in 
Minsk shortly after the movie was released in theaters in the U.S. 
 
¶5.  The availability of pirated software and music also persists 
throughout Belarus.  The latest Microsoft Windows and Office 
versions were available for an average of 5,500 rubles (USD 2.75) 
in Minsk markets.  Other expensive commercial software, such as 
Autocad, and popular computer games were available for the same 
price.  Poloff also noted that the computer game "Civilization IV," 
which usually retails for USD 40 or more, was widely available for 
BYR 7,700 (USD 3.75).  Regardless of content, music and software CDs 
generally sell for 8,000 rubles or less per disc.  In February 2007, 
software industry sources estimated that counterfeit copies made up 
more than 90 percent of the software in use in Belarus. 
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft representatives related to post that its 
software sales in Belarus are less than two percent of sales in 
Ukraine, despite the ubiquity of Microsoft software in Minsk stores. 
  Most of this pirated optical media is believed to be imported from 
the Moscow region of Russia, with smaller amounts coming from 
Ukraine. 
 
Use/Procurement of Government Software 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  There is no presidential edict or other regulation requiring 
government-purchased software to comply with international 
agreements.  During the year Poloff spoke with representatives of 
domestic and foreign software companies who complained that the GOB 
generally will not pay for software licensing or technical support. 
They claim GOB officials do not understand why software is more 
expensive than hardware.  Government officials have acknowledged 
that there is currently no law in Belarus recognizing software 
copyrights.  Software companies hoping to prevent sales of pirated 
software in Belarus must make a specific application to stop the 
piracy with the government; post has no evidence of any such 
application being made during the year. 
 
TRIPS Compliance 
---------------- 
 
¶7. In August 2005, the Council of Ministers passed Decree 871, 
"Confirming the Position on Interaction of Republican Organs of 
State Governance and Law Enforcement in the Realm of Intellectual 
Property," (the decree can be found, in Russian at 
http://pravo.by/webnpa/text_txt.asp?RN=C20500 871).  This decree 
calls for various government organs to cooperatively enforce 
legislation on IPR protection.  Specifically, it calls for joint 
action by the GOB on studying international IPR norms; conducting 
joint events and seminars; exchanging information and analysis; and 
carrying out joint checks for IPR violations.  The decree also 
designates the IPR responsibilities for the Ministries of 
Architecture and Construction; Internal Affairs; Health; 
Information; Culture; Education; Industry; Communications; 
Agriculture; Trade; and Economy; as well as the State Committees on 
Science and Technology; Customs; Earth Resources, Geodesics and 
Cartography; Standards and Certifications; and law enforcement 
bodies. 
 
¶8.  In July 2006, the GOB reported to post that the Council of 
Ministers had drafted another decree, "Confirming the State Program 
for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the Republic 
of Belarus for the Years 2007-2010."  This decree was ostensibly 
aimed improving the effectiveness of IPR enforcement organs and 
strengthening IPR legal protections.  However, Post knows of no new 
IPR-related legislation during 2006. 
 
¶9.  The NCIPR failed to provide most information to the questions in 
ref C, para 16 C, TRIPS Compliance.  While the GOB did report in 
mid-2006 that customs authorities interdicted 135 IPR violations 
totaling BYR 113 million (USD 52,803) from 2004 to 2005, Post still 
waits for 2006 statistics on border seizures and investigations. 
 
Enforcement 
----------- 
 
¶10.  According to official GOB statistics, Belarusian law 
enforcement uncovered 70 crimes under Article 201 of Belarus 
Criminal Code ("Violation of Authorship, Literary, Invention, and 
Patent Rights") and 436 administrative violations and seized more 
than 60,000 units of counterfeit audiovisual products.   While 
credible sources reported that the number of raids increased in 
2006, they tended to be aimed at small-scale retailers instead of 
production facilities.  For example, opened in October 2004, the 
Vigmaplast optical disc replication plant near Minsk continues to 
operate two lines with a capacity of seven million discs per year. 
Meanwhile, no official information on criminal proceedings or 
disposition of equipment resulting from the closure of the Brest 
Armita CD plant in August 2002 was provided during 2006. 
 
 
¶11.  Furthermore, GOB law enforcement remained hamstrung by several 
deficiencies in Belarusian law.  First, border officials lacked ex 
officio authority to seize illegal material and to initiate their 
own investigations.  Second, administrative agencies lacked ex 
officio authority to undertake investigations.  Third, law 
enforcement agencies were not permitted to confiscate and destroy 
equipment used for the manufacture of pirated material.  Fourth, 
such agencies were not authorized to conduct ex parte searches of 
end-user pirates.  Fifth, there are no laws prohibiting the purchase 
or use of pirated software.  Finally, the current anti-circumvention 
and copyright management information provisions of Belarus' 1998 
Copyright Law do not conform to World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO) digital treaties with respect to the 
manufacture, importation, sale, distribution, or other trafficking 
in devices or services that are designed to circumvent technological 
protection measures. 
 
Treaties 
-------- 
 
¶12.  Belarus has been a WIPO member since 1970 and is a party to all 
relevant IPR treaties, including the Berne Convention for the 
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1997), the WIPO Copyright 
Treaty (2002) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 
(2002), as well as a number of IPR agreements under the framework of 
the Commonwealth of Independent States.  In its response to the 2006 
Special 301, the GOB boasted that under Article 20 of Belarus' 2000 
law, "On Normative Legal Acts," these international treaties had the 
"force of law" in Belarus.  However, in many cases the GOB appeared 
unable or unwilling to comply with even the smallest WIPO 
recommendations.  For example, in its 2006 answers to the 
"Questionnaire on the Implementation of Paragraph 12(a) of WIPO 
Standard ST.10/C," the NCIP admitted that it would not conform to 
the WIPO system of patent application numbering during first filings 
by the end of year.  Moreover, NCIP failed to answer questions 
relating to its compliance with said system in certificates of 
priority. 
 
Training 
-------- 
 
¶13.  On a positive note, Belarusian cooperation with the WIPO 
appeared to improve significantly, particularly in the area of 
intellectual property (IP) education and training, since the GOB 
created the Training Center of Intellectual Property within the 
NCIPR in 2004 and the Interagency Advisory Board on IP Education in 
¶2005.  By September 2006, the WIPO reported that approximately 2,000 
people had participated in IP seminars and workshops offered at the 
Training Center.  [Note: During a visit to the U.S. in November 
2006, Belarus' Head of High Technology Park Administration Valeriy 
Tsepkalo invited Tanya Shuster, Director of Business Information for 
 
SIPDIS 
the Newly Independent States of U.S. Department of Commerce, to 
attend a workshop on high-technology IPR protection at the Training 
Center.  End note.] 
 
¶14.  In addition, WIPO noted that the GOB introduced courses in 
"Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Management" in higher 
education and specialized secondary-education institutions for the 
2006/2007 academic year.  Moreover, the WIPO lauded GOB cooperation 
during WIPO education and training conference that hosted 300 
participants from 20 countries in Minsk between May 22 and 25.  On 
February 1, 2007, while meeting with WIPO Director General Kamil 
Idris in Minsk, President Lukashenko announced plans to set up an IP 
center modeled after the WIPO Worldwide Academy in Geneva. 
Meanwhile, industry sources report Belarusian authorities are 
planning to hold an IP conference in May 2007 but have not 
determined the sponsors and participants. 
 
Stewart