VZCZCXRO6305
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHSP #0147/01 0871424
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271424Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9070
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT OF SPAIN 000147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE, INL, WHA/CAR 
JUSTICE FOR OPDAT R LIPMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD KIPR KCRM TD
SUBJECT: COLLABORATING ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT 
IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 
 
REF: (A) 07 Port of Spain 320 (B) 08 Port of Spain 060 
      (C) 08 Port of Spain 116 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice 
and Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Office 
of the Attorney General, Embassy Port of Spain coordinated a 
successful three-day INL-funded intellectual property rights (IPR) 
enforcement workshop.  The event brought together government 
officials and private sector representatives to design anti-piracy 
strategies, taking into account the limited resources available to 
investigate and prosecute IPR crimes.  While impediments to GOTT 
interagency collaboration were evident, participants were able to 
hash out workable enforcement programs, producing a 25-page 
enforcement handbook and displaying a commitment to continued 
collaboration.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On March 11, the Director of Public Prosecution, Geoffrey 
Henderson; the Minister of Legal Affairs, Peter Taylor; and 
Ambassador Austin kicked off a three-day Intellectual Property 
Rights (IPR) enforcement workshop coordinated by the U.S. Department 
of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, 
Assistance and Training (DOJ/OPDAT), the Ministry of Legal Affairs, 
the Office of the Attorney General, and the Embassy.  Participants 
from eleven GOTT offices and a number of private sector 
organizations as well as media representatives listened as the 
opening speakers highlighted the importance of protecting 
intellectual property rights. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Developing Workable Enforcement Protocols 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Following the opening ceremony, DOJ/OPDAT officials 
facilitated a discussion about the most prevalent forms of piracy in 
Trinidad and Tobago.  In attendance were representatives from the 
Police Service, Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), 
Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the Chief Parliamentary 
Counsel, Bureau of Inland Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Standards, 
Customs and Excise Division, Consumer Affairs Division, Microsoft, 
Pfizer, Carihome Entertainment, and the Copyright Association of 
Trinidad and Tobago (COTT).  Participants agreed to discuss several 
critical areas in greater detail, including the importation of blank 
CDs/DVDs, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and circuit breakers, as well 
as the distribution of pirated software, CDs and DVDs by street 
vendors as well shops. 
 
¶4. (U) DOJ/OPDAT facilitator, Robert Lipman, probed each of these 
problem areas, working with the participants to outline the flow of 
goods to the market and identify leverage points, such as customs 
and financial records, that could be used by law enforcement to 
identify IPR violators.  The participants then worked in small 
groups to develop step-by-step protocols for investigating these IPR 
crimes. The workshop facilitators, including Lipman, a retired UK 
police official, and a representative from DOJ's Computer Crimes and 
Intellectual Property Section, assisted in this exercise. 
 
¶5. (U) While impediments to interagency collaboration and 
enforcement were evident during the handbook's development, 
participants were able to hash out workable enforcement programs. 
The workshop yielded a twenty-five page handbook with IPR 
enforcement protocols, an IPR communications strategy, and guidance 
on investigation and prosecution of IPR cases. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Barriers to Effective Enforcement 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The workshop highlighted several barriers to effective 
enforcement.  The criminal justice system lacks sufficient resources 
to fight crime generally and piracy specifically.  The country has 
an estimated 9,000 police officers for a population of 1.3 million 
and only nine high court judges to try major cases. With almost 100 
murders to date in 2008, law enforcement is focused on violent 
crime.  Crackdowns on piracy have come under public scrutiny for 
diverting resources from violent crimes and for potentially creating 
more criminals by putting street vendors out of business. 
 
¶7. (SBU) IPR case law is thin and thus judges have little precedent 
to refer to when trying piracy cases.  Prosecutors expressed 
frustration at judges' tendency to ignore IPR crimes due to the 
general lack of familiarity with their legal merits.  The Copyright 
Amendment Bill, now before the House of Representatives, may help 
address this situation by clarifying judicial powers (reftels B and 
C). 
 
PORT OF SP 00000147  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) With access to goods entering the country, the Customs and 
Excise Division is in a position to provide critical information to 
inform piracy investigations.  During the workshop, Customs 
officials were hesitant to commit to any information sharing 
protocols. Their attitude was in sharp contrast to that of their BIR 
counterparts who were willing to assist in the investigation of tax 
records of suspected pirates and their suppliers.  While the issue 
was eventually resolved by the Controller's decision to allow for 
information exchange between agencies, participants were clearly 
frustrated by the hesitation of Customs' representatives. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Benefits of Education and Communication 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Focusing on pirated CDs/DVDs, the public debate over piracy 
in T&T has turned towards the social welfare of the "innocent" 
criminal as well as the appropriate allocation of limited law 
enforcement resources (reftel C).  The group's discussion of pirated 
software and counterfeit circuit breakers, however, helped educate 
participants about the nature and extent of piracy's impacts on 
public health and safety.  Better informed, law enforcement 
officials will now be able to justify the use of limited resources 
in the fight against piracy to their superiors as well as the 
public. In fact, the group developed a communications strategy to 
educate others about the impact of various forms of piracy. 
 
¶11. (U) Private sector participants expressed interest in working 
closely with law enforcement to combat piracy.  The representatives 
from COTT and Carihome conduct raids with police, helping to 
identify pirated materials.  Pfizer also actively communicates with 
the Ministry of Health when it is aware of possible counterfeit 
shipments entering the country.  The connections made at the 
workshop between law enforcement agencies and private sector 
representatives will help strengthen enforcement mechanisms. 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants 
discussed the steps required to gain buy-in for both the IPR 
enforcement handbook and greater interagency collaboration.  The 
majority of the participants did not feel empowered to carry the 
mandate further than the workshop.  However, they were willing to 
communicate with their superiors to recommend the issuance of 
"directives" authorizing protocol implementation and interagency 
cooperation.  Going forward, Post will follow up not only with 
workshop participants but also with key officials within the 
Ministry of Legal Affairs, Ministry of National Security, and the 
Office of the Attorney General to try to ensure that the progress 
achieved at the workshop leads to stronger enforcement.  Given the 
difficulty of interagency communication and hesitation of some 
agencies to fully commit to the initiative, it will be a challenge 
to ensure ongoing dialogue and cooperation. 
 
AUSTIN