VZCZCXRO7927
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHTH #2393/01 3551444
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211444Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0945
INFO RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 1743
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ATHENS 002393 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
COMMERCE FOR ITA - KRISTIN NADJI AND USPTO- MICHAEL SMITH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR GR
SUBJECT: IPR AFTER THE ELECTIONS: SOME PROGRESS 
 
REF: A. A) ATHENS 373 
 
     ¶B. B) ATHENS 1483 
     ¶C. C) STATE 154444 
     ¶D. D) FROWICK-COWAN EMAIL 12/20/07 
     ¶E. E) FROWICK-USPTO (FLEISHER/SMITH) EMAILS OF 
        12/14/07 AND PREVIOUS 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU)  Summary: Greek authorities told us on December 18 
that they launched a coordinated sweep against contraband 
street peddlers.  The sweep will be conducted each day 
between now and January 15, with the exception of December 
¶24.  Subsequent calls ot industry representatives revealed 
tha tthe sweep was not -- at least not yet -- as cmprehensive 
as portrayed.  Additionally, the Special Tax Police have 
followed up their July software license audit letters with 
"interviews" with over 40 firms, and has plans to conduct 260 
such interviews by the end of April 2008.  Until these 
developments, the GOG had demonstrated uneven enforcement of 
the two new Greek IPR-related regulations, one on 
administrative fines, implemented by national police forces 
including tax police, the other a ministerial decree 
mandating that the (unarmed) municipal authorities confiscate 
contraband.  The regulations contain a structural problem, 
however, as vendors of contraband reportedly have opted 
simply to go to court for DVD-related charges rather than pay 
immediate fines for CD peddling and then still go to court 
for the DVDs they also carry. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Summary Continued:  In the meantime the GOG 
continues efforts to organize the Greek interagency to focus 
on IPR crimes. The Hellenic Copyright Organization (OPI) 
continues to conduct numerous seminars and educational 
outreach activities, and it is developing a comprehensive 
website for IPR information needed by GOG enforcement 
agencies.  Separately, OPI is gathering data to develop a 
secure database of convictions to be used by law enforcement 
to ensure proper sentencing of recidivists.  The 
public-private IPR Task Force meets regularly. Embassy Athens 
continues to work with USPTO and Greek interlocutors to 
prepare seminars and conferences to raise public and 
professional understanding of IPR crimes.   End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Problems, Progress with Street Enforcement 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)   The Greek government is making some progress on 
enforcement of IPR law now that elections are over and new 
ministers have been sworn in.  National police have started 
imposing administrative fines against vendors of counterfeit 
goods (the first case ended in the order of deportation of 
the accused) and municipal police, particula Athens, 
began confiscQls.  The administrative fine regulation does 
not cover contraband DVDs, thus any vendor caught selling 
them must face a judge.  Moreover, in the rare instance that 
a vendor is found carrying only CDs, s/he has the option of 
either paying the stiff fine (not less than 1000 euro) or of 
going to court.  Since everyone knows that the Greek court 
system is extremely backed up and that judges do not accord a 
high priority to IPR cases, vendors reportedly have chosen to 
go to court rather than pay a fine.  Reportedly the word is 
out and most now make sure they carry DVDs.  (Note: It is 
important to note that this structural problem arose because 
DVDs were not included in the administrative fines process at 
the insistence of the industry itself.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Post hosted a working lunch on September 27 for 
the Deputy Mayor of Athens Andreas Papadakis in order to 
discuss the municipality's implementation of the ministerial 
decree on municipal confiscations.  Joining were 
representatives of locally based IPR business associations 
including EPOE (the Greek branch of MPAA), and the 
International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), 
which also sent its London based regional director Peter 
Scott.  At that time city authorities were in early stages of 
working out modalities for full implementation of the decree. 
 Because city authorities do not have arrest power, nor are 
they armed, enforcement requires coordination between the 
municipal authorities and two law-enforcement branches of the 
national government ) the tax police (YPEE) and Ministry of 
Justice/National Police.  Papadakis told us that initial 
 
ATHENS 00002393  002 OF 004 
 
 
implementation of the confiscation regime had not been 
without incident ) in fact just the previous week a 
municipal police officer tried to confiscate contraband from 
a street vendor but was verbally challenged by passers-by, 
and physically attached by the vendor and his associates, 
resulting in the officer getting a broken nose.  Press 
reports indicate that the police labor association is looking 
at the situation with an eye to gaining better physical 
security for their officers.  Papadakis told us that the 
municipal police were seeking to revive a MOU on cooperation 
that had been agreed with the national police force during 
the 2004 Olympics, to permit at least one armed national 
police officer to accompany the unarmed municipal police 
during IPR raids. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  In subsequent discussions of enforcement of the 
administrative fines, industry representatives expressed some 
frustration that the GOG was permitting bureaucratic inertia 
to stall it.  IFPI in particular had placed high hopes on a 
pre-Christmas anti-piracy campaign that would both provide a 
visible deterrent and remove contraband from the important 
pre-Christmas market, during which the music industry makes 
up to 45 percent of its sales. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  In a December 19 meeting with new Special Tax 
Police (YPEE) Secretary (i.e. Director) Spyros Cladas, we 
learned that the GOG that day finally launched a program to 
sweep Athens's streets of contraband.  He said 20 
seven-person teams consisting of YPEE, national police, and 
Athens police will hit the streets each day between December 
19 and January 15 (except for Christmas eve), targeting those 
areas where the problem is most acute.  The GOG has worked 
out a procedure for confiscating and destroying the goods and 
accounting for any fines collected, which, according to 
Cladas, had been a problem as most of those fined have been 
undocumented migrants and the tax police had no "Category" 
available in their software to identify them as such.  Cladas 
told us that on January 15 the GOG would suspend the program 
and assess its effectiveness, with an eye to making a public 
report.  He assured us that the GOG would be collecting data 
on arrests/seizures and fines for a new annual report on IPR 
enforcement, and would share such data with us.   (Note: we 
called industry representatives December 21 to get their 
reactions to the sweep -- EPOE had heard of it but didn't 
know any details; IFPI told us that so far they knew of only 
one raid, on Dec. 18.  We will check in after the new year to 
see what really happened. End note.) 
 
----------- 
Software Audits 
----------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  YPEE's performance in going after unlicensed 
software has been one of the bright spots in Greece's IPR 
scene, and was a principal argument for removing Greece from 
the Special 301 list after 2003, since software "piracy" rate 
was brought down by several percentage points after 
enforcement began (ref A).  Posts' discussions with local 
representatives of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have 
revealed broad satisfaction with Greek progress -- until 
recently.  During a December 5 meeting with BSA, we learned 
that in their own earlier meeting with Cladas they had urged 
YPEE to begin auditing firms that had not responded to the 
earlier series of YPEE letters to businesses noting the legal 
requirement to use licensed software (refs).  To their 
dismay, despite the passage of over two months since the 
elections and installation of Cladas as new YPEE Director, no 
formal audits had occurred.   BSA Counsel Archondoula 
Papapanageorgiou told us she believes that simply by auditing 
a few firms, the word would spread and software piracy rates 
could be brought down further. 
 
¶9. (SBU) We asked Cladas December 19 about the prospects for 
conducting further formal audits.  He told us that, while 
formal audits based solely on the software letters had not 
yet occurred (largely because his people were not fully 
trained on what to look for), YPEE was nevertheless calling 
in firms for "interviews" to discuss their software licenses. 
 He observed that most firms ensure that they have purchased 
licenses before arriving for their interview.  If they 
haven't, YPEE instructs them to do so.  YPEE has conducted 40 
such interview this autumn, and plans to conduct 260 more by 
the end of April 2008.  Cladas believes that these interviews 
will have the same multiplier effect as that envisioned by 
Papapanageorgiou.  Cladas did not say whether YPEE follows up 
with these firm to re-check their licenses, but he did assure 
us that auditors will look for licenses in future tax audits. 
 
 
ATHENS 00002393  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Other Elements of the Action Plan 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U)  The Hellenic Copyright Organization (OPI) continues 
to engage in a wide variety of activities, and has shared a 
current listing with us (ref D).  Notable is its effort to 
develop its database of IPR resources, as was required under 
the administrative fine regulation, using EU funds.  OPI 
Director Irini Stamatoudi tells us that it will be launched 
in January 2008, when it will be accessible by all GOG 
bodies, including law-enforcement agencies and judges. 
Separately, OPI is developing a secure database of 
convictions data, to be used by law enforcement to ensure 
proper sentencing of recidivists.  She is concerned that OPI 
will not be able to administer it over the long term, 
however, as her office does not have the resources to hire 
the additional two people required. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  On a less positive side of the ledger, not much 
has been done to speed prosecutions through the notoriously 
overburdened and independent-minded Greek judiciary (although 
the government has opened debate in parliament on measures to 
streamline and speed judicial processes).  And while OPI,s 
recent public-private IPR Task Forces (TF) have been very 
well attended including for the first time representatives of 
municipal authorities, the GOG has not yet formalized an 
interagency Task Force nor has it assigned clear lines of 
authority and dedicated staff.  Additionally, the Interior 
Ministry representative of the Union of Municipalities (a 
national level organization looking after the interests of 
municipal governments) groused at the public-private TF about 
the mandate in the ministerial decree to step up 
confiscations without additional resources for 
municipalities, and threatened to seek the decree's repeal. 
MFA IPR Counselor Marina Hrondropoulou told us December 14 in 
response to Ref C demarche that the GOG is discussing 
creating an inter-ministerial committee on IPR staffed at 
secretary general level, however we note that we have heard 
 
SIPDIS 
this before - as early as April of this year. 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  The USG has been doing its part to support the 
Greek efforts. We will send Stamadoudi to the U.S. for a 
February 2008 International Visitors program focusing on 
copyright protections.  Additionally, the Greek Copyright 
office will be sending three participants to an upcoming 
USPTO training session in Washington.  And of course the 
USPTO grant of $125,000 (Ref E) will help raise consciousness 
on IPR issues with a range of Greek and neighboring country 
officials, including prosecutors, judges and police 
officials.  We are working with the OPI to use part of the 
USPTO funds to support an international IPR conference 
focused on internet piracy, most likely in mid-June 2008. 
Our current thinking for the balance of that funding is to 
support judicial seminars and possibly a follow-on seminar 
for the international conference. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) COMMENT:  Clearly the GOG is making progress in 
developing new systems and practices to combat IPR piracy. 
The news from Cladas on a holiday season crackdown is just 
what industry had asked for, and we anticipate that the 20 
plus law enforcement teams will be busy.  Over the longer 
term, however, the picture on enforcement is mixed.  Although 
we do anticipate more arrests and confiscations under the new 
regulatory regime, due to its structural problems noted 
above, it is not clear whether this will translate to a long 
term pattern of more fines and sentencing.  It is 
conceivable, even likely, that once the system has its kinks 
worked out, and once the OPI conviction database is in wide 
use, then we will see more effective prosecution/sentencing, 
including deportations of illegal migranQ on 
&poor ecQctive in enforcing basic law and order.  In a September 
incident, a Nigerian vendor leapt from a restaurant balcony 
to his death while fleeing what he thought were police.  This 
resulted in violent street demonstrations by immigrant and 
anarchist groups.  There has been plenty of other anecdotal 
evidence of negative public reaction to police/municipal 
 
ATHENS 00002393  004 OF 004 
 
 
authority action against street vendors ) which points to 
the need for a robust public outreach campaign and consistent 
&talkers8 on IPR crime at all levels of government in 
Greece.  This will be a focus of our discussios with the GOG 
over coming weeks. 
SPECKHARD