European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, "Report to the Trade Barriers Regulation Committee," Brussels, 6-10-2009. http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/june/tradoc_143405.pdf

The 2006 UIGEA not only scared American companies from facilitating gambling online by US citizens, but it also sent international shockwaves in the gambling industry. Specifically, European companies were forced out of the US market but “still suffer legal proceedings by US authorities based on their past activities on the US market.”

The report published June 10, 2009 by the European Commission is the result of a formal examination procedure filed in 2008 following the complaint lodged by the Remote Gambling Association. The report “concludes that US laws deny access and discriminate against foreign suppliers of gambling and betting services inconsistently with US WTO obligations.” In response, the US is trying to withdraw from the trade obligations, but has been unable to formally do so. However, as the report notes, “a withdrawal only affects future access to the market, but does not allow the US to disregard its obligations in respect of past activities.” These past activities affect “revenue and stock market value lost by affected companies.” One of the fundamental reasons why this dispute is taking place, is indeed the fault of the US government for not clearly defining their laws, namely in the ambiguous Wire Act. As outlined by the Commission, “EU companies thought that it was legally possible to supply Internet gambling services in the US, given the lack of clarity of the domestic legal framework.” As a result, even though the European companies began withdrawing in 2006 as a response to UIGEA, the US pursued these companies for their pre-2006 activities in a discriminatory fashion.

“Internet gambling is a complex and delicate area, and we do not want to dictate how the US should regulate its market,” said EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. “However, the US must respect its WTO obligations. I hope that we will be able to reach an amicable solution to this issue.”

This article draws on theories of globalization, technology, and the struggles between trade agreements and copyright objectives to place international piracy into a global context. The author, Shujen Wang, examines the the role of Hollywood in shaping trade agreements and piracy policy as well as the interconnectedness of unilateral and multilateral solutions. Specifically, Wang documents the General Agreement on Tarrifs and Trade (GATT) which led to the creation of the WTO, the growth of U.S. trade policy from the WTO's agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS), and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). While analyzing the importance and role international piracy and copyright law play within the framework of these multinational trade agreements, Wang illustrates the necessity for copyright protection via the importance of the copyright industry in the U.S. economy. Moreover, Wang tracks the way techological developments like VCR's and DVD's have changed the moral landscape of the pirating industry and Hollywood's lobbying efforts to push for protect copyrights internationally.

This article incorporates many of the essential themes of my topic, including techology's ability to alter and push the boundaries of domestic and international copyright statutes, international piracy's role in shaping trade agreements, and the U.S.' ability to use these trade agreements to open up markets and ensure strict copyright protection for its goods. Furthermore, the article cites the specific legislation, trade organizations, and trade agreements that have been instrumental in shaping the two-pronged U.S. approach to copyright protection. Specifically with the passage of the Permanent Normal Trade Relations act with China in 1999. Overall, this article provides valuable insight into constrcting a fraework that encapsulates the complexity of Chinese piracy and how it has affected our bargaining and trade agreements and policies.

 

   This book, a collection of essays by the scholar, Kong Qingjiang, is among the most comprehensive and up-to-date sources available on IPR in China. In this book, Qingjiang takes his work over past years and compiles it into an organized fashion. Because of the nature of this compilation, there is some overlap among the essays in concepts, facts, and ideas. Nevertheless, the book provides more information about IPRs in China than most other books written to this date.
   Because this book is a collection of essays written over a period of time, there is no single unifying thesis to the work. However, it can be said that Qingjiang is very optimistic about China’s IPR future in regards to meeting international standards. On a very basic level, all of the essays suggest that China is making a great deal of progress and that strengthening its IPR regime is a good thing, although it should be undertaken in a gradual manner.
   Specific topics that Qingjiang’s essays focus on are a brief history of recent developments in Chinese IPR regime; an overview of China’s current stance on IPRs, domestically and foreign; judicial enforcement of IPRs; problems in China’s IPR regime posed by the digital era; a discussion of how China is handling the balancing of competition policies and IPRs; China’s strategy for the future of its IPRs; China’s place in the WTO; China’s role in TRIPS and the Doha Agenda; whether China is or can enforce international standards of intellectual property protection; how China’s IPR regime effects Sino-US relations; and lastly, how China’s IPR regime effect Sino-Japanese relations.
    The bulk of these essays use case studies to exemplify their individual assertions although some essays use more statistics than case-studies. As a result of the numerous essays, this book provides more information specific to China than any other book. The book is important for any assessment of IPRs in China and helps to accentuate the argument that China is best suited by a gradual change toward meeting international standards of IPR. This thesis is supported by Qingjiang in different essays throughout, and so is a useful tool in providing a scholarly grounding to the thesis of this project.

""This site provides access to documents and information of and about the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an organization that promoted international commerce and the reduction of trade barriers among member states from 1947-1994." Searchable, or browse by issuing body and date. Includes bibliographies, research guides, and links to sites about GATT and the World Trade Organization (WTO, the successor to GATT). From Stanford University Libraries." (via LII)

China's accession to the WTO changed the face of world economics, but in order to be successful, markets needed to open up. This paper argues that China should eliminate tariff's on IT quickly in order to help open markets and pave the way to success.