Washington: An official US report has identified Nehru Place in New Delhi among the top 30 notorious IT markets of the world, dealing in goods and services infringing intellectual property rights (IPR).
"Nehru Place is reportedly one of the many markets in major cities throughout India that are known for dealing in large volumes of pirated software, pirated optical media containing movies and music, and counterfeit goods," said the report released by the US Trade Representative (USTR).
An earlier USTR list released in March 2011 also included Nehru Place as among the world's notorious markets for pirated and counterfeited products including software.
The latest list does not include Baidu Inc, China's largest search engine in a nod to the firm's efforts to clean up its music offerings. Baidu, which has been on the notorious markets list for years, in July inked an agreement with top music studios to distribute licensed songs through its mp3 search service, ending a legal dispute over accusations the company encouraged piracy.
However, Alibaba Group's Taobao unit made it on the United States Trade Representative's November notorious markets list for offering a wide range of copyright infringing products.
The report also cited two Chinese music websites, Sogou Mp3 and Gougou as providing "deep linking" services to copyrighted music. Four of the 15 listed physical notorious markets for piracy are located in China, USTR said.
The Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets report identifies more than 30 markets that typify the problem of marketplaces that deal in goods and services that infringe on intellectual property rights (IPR) and help to sustain global piracy and counterfeiting.
The results identify examples of both Internet and physical marketplaces that have been the subject of enforcement action connected with counterfeiting and piracy, or that may merit further investigation for possible IPR infringements. The announcement concludes the review process launched on September 22.
"Piracy and counterfeiting continue to present a serious challenge to the innovation and creativity that is essential to supporting American jobs and creating economic growth around the world. The notorious markets highlighted in this review negatively impact legitimate businesses and industries of all sizes that rely on intellectual property to protect their goods and services," said US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
"We hope that this review will continue to yield the kind of concrete action from highlighted markets that led to the removal of several markets from the list this year," he said.
(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)
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