VZCZCXRO8311
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #1439/01 1531218
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021218Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3596
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001439 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/RUS(TUMINARO), EEB/IPE(URBAN) 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR KALVAREZ, PBURKHEAD 
USDOC 4231 JBROUGHER, 
USPTO MSMITH 
DOJ/CCIPS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ETRD KIPR ECON RS
SUBJECT: IPR: RUSSIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTICIPATION IN A NORTHEAST 
AND BALTIC CONFERENCE ON INTERNET PIRACY 
 
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¶1. Summary.  A delegation of Russian law enforcement officials 
participated in the 5th annual USPTO Northeast Baltic Regional 
Conference on Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights 
in the Digital Environment held in Helsinki, Finland on April 28-29, 
¶2009.  Their participation signals a growing interest in IPR 
protection.  The purpose of the conference was to offer a forum for 
law enforcement officials, prosecutors and intellectual property 
experts to share knowledge and practical experiences of effective 
investigation and prosecution of both copyright piracy in the 
electronic environment, and trademark counterfeiting over the 
Internet. Delegations from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, UK, 
and the U.S. also participated. Conference participants encouraged 
further cooperation between Russian and foreign law enforcement to 
combat Internet piracy challenges.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2. Pol/Econ Officer from St. Petersburg and Embassy Moscow's IPR 
Attache attended the "Northeast Baltic Regional Conference on 
Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the 
Electronic Environment" held by the USPTO and Embassy Helsinki on 
April 28-29, 2009.  The purpose of the conference was to offer a 
forum for law enforcement officials, prosecutors and intellectual 
property experts to share knowledge and practical experiences of 
effective investigation and prosecution of both copyright piracy in 
the electronic environment, and trademark counterfeiting over the 
internet. Officials from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, UK, 
U.S. and Russia participated. 
 
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¶3. Although this was the fifth annual conference of this kind 
(previous conferences had all been held in Tallinn, Estonia), it was 
the first time Embassy Moscow was successful in recruiting officials 
from Russia to attend.  The Russian delegation comprised of 
working-level representatives from various agencies such as the 
Federal Customs Service, the General Procuracy, and the Ministry of 
Interior's Cybercrimes and Economic Investigation Units, as well as 
representatives from the Russian Embassy in Finland.  While the 
USPTO provided incentive to attend by covering their travel 
expenses, their active participation in exchanging opinions 
indicated sincere interest. Russian officials pointed out, in the 
last year Russian courts considered over 6,000 cases related to 
violations of IP rights. This represents considerable progress in 
comparison with just three years ago, when the number of similar 
cases was less than one hundred. Representatives of neighboring 
countries encouraged increased cooperation from their Russian 
counterparts.  In particular, a representative of a Finnish 
anti-piracy center underscored that the cooperation extended by 
Russian Customs authorities largely facilitated his country's 
success in fighting CD/DVD piracy. 
 
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¶4. In general physical piracy is down in all the concerned countries 
because Internet piracy is becoming the predominant method of 
selling unlicensed copyrighted material. Conference participants 
seemed to agree that the emerging threat of Internet piracy will 
require closer international cooperation, including deeper 
involvement of Russian law enforcement with international 
anti-piracy operations.  Russia remained the unnamed 'elephant in 
the room' as participating rights holders groups, such as the IFPI 
and representatives of the MPAA spoke about "the Region's worst 
Internet enforcer."  In general, industry considers Russia a 
safe-haven for internet pirates as Russian laws offer favorable 
loopholes on copying for personal use, with little threat of 
enforcement. 
 
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¶5.  The Russian Ministry of Interior (MVD) Cybercrimes Unit, known 
as "Department K," is charged with all computer-related crimes, but 
Internet piracy is reportedly low on their list of priorities.  At 
the conference, a Department K representative reported some 
successes in shutting down websites offering unlicensed software for 
download, but admitted that Russia has yet to successfully prosecute 
a single Internet piracy case involving music or movies.  The 
copyright industry explains the reason for the focus on software: 
Department K investigators tend to go for the 'low hanging fruit.' 
 
MOSCOW 00001439  002 OF 002 
 
 
The prosecutor must prove to the court that the minimum monetary 
threshold of 250,000 rubles (approximately $8000) of damages has 
been met for the crime to be considered "serious" under Russia's 
Criminal Code. Because software programs are more expensive than 
movies or songs, it's easier and less work to add up each infringing 
sale of a software program to meet the minimum threshold. 
Contributing to the enforcement problem, Department K can only 
investigate computer crimes; it cannot prosecute.  Once Department K 
determines an infringement, it must turn the investigation over to 
the Investigative Department to initiate a criminal case. U.S. 
rights holders suspect that communication between Department K and 
the Investigative Department is poor, resulting in fewer case 
transfers between departments and delays. 
 
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¶6. Nevertheless, conference organizers and industry agreed that it's 
an important and positive sign that the Russian delegation 
participated.  All conference participants agreed that more 
extensive cooperation among the concerned governmental agencies of 
Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland as well as other former 
Soviet Union and North-East European countries is necessary.  A 
highlight of the conference was the discussion of international 
cooperation in the G8-initiated "24/7 Network" whereby each 
signatory country makes available a 24-hour hotline number to 
foreign law enforcement officials requesting assistance with 
computer crimes cases.  Matt Lamberti, DOJ Regional IPR Coordinator 
based in Sofia, Bulgaria explained that in the U.S., the DOJ 
utilizes the 24/7 Network to facilitate requests from foreign 
governments for data preservation from free email services such as 
Gmail or Yahoo.  The saved email data can later provide vital 
support evidence in prosecuting IPR cases.  The Russian delegation 
at the conference was not aware that the Russian Federation is a 
member of the 24/7 Network and were pleased to receive information 
about the contact within their own government, as well as the 
hotline number in the U.S. 
 
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¶7.  As Internet crime becomes increasingly more international, where 
the common scenario for an illegal website includes hosting the 
server in one country, the ISP in another, and the payment 
processing company in a third, more attention and resources are 
needed to aid international cooperation among law enforcement.  To 
counteract Russia's growing Internet piracy problem, Russia's law 
enforcement bodies need to adapt and prioritize their enforcement 
efforts.  Both participants and organizers discussed future 
cooperation and made plans for participation in next year's Regional 
conference on digital piracy. 
 
BEYRLE