The European Commission last week published its first Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List, which names non-EU websites and businesses that lawmakers believe are responsible for piracy and counterfeiting of products produced in Europe.
According to the commission, the list is intended to push the owners of these companies and websites to crack down on intellectual property theft, and to alert local law enforcement authorities, regulators and governments across the globe to the activities of counterfeiters and pirates who target European products.
The list is also intended to raise awareness among European consumers of the risks involved in buying counterfeit products from questionable websites and companies, such as health and safety issues associated with fake goods.
The list, which was compiled using information reported in the course of a public consultation, focuses on websites illegally providing copyright-protected content, e-commerce platforms, online pharmacies and physical marketplaces.
One chapter is given over to illicit online pharmacies, which highlights the growing problem of counterfeit medicines sold on the internet and the health risks they pose to consumers.
Most of the responses submitted during the consultation process related to cyberlockers and BitTorrent sites, followed by stream-ripping, linking sites, and unlicensed pay-per-download sites.
Unveiling the list last Friday, EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said: “Intellectual property infringements are a scourge on the European economy, decreasing investment and government revenues, and killing jobs in our creative and innovative industries.
“They also pose a significant risk to our citizens who often simply do not know whether what they are buying is safe or not. Furthermore, the link between counterfeiting and organised crime poses a major threat to our society.
“This Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List is part of our broader effort to ensure that European companies can operate on a level playing field when trading outside the EU’s borders, and that EU consumers are safe.”
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimate that trade in counterfeit and pirated goods costs the global economy approximately €338 billion ($385 billion) every year.
The EU is particularly affected, with counterfeit and pirated products amounting up to around 5% of all imports or as much as €85 billion a year.
Commenting on the continued existence of the Pirate Bay, which is one of the largest BitTorrent
websites globally, the report said: “Although copyright holders have successfully taken action against the operators of BitTorrent websites in a number of jurisdictions throughout the world and the website was closed down for a while, it reappeared and continues to be active.”
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