USTR still keeps close watch on movie copyright infringement practices in Thailand

[webfact]

USTR still keeps close watch on movie copyright infringement practices in Thailand

BANGKOK, 02 May 2014, (NNT) - Thailand remains on the Priority Watch List (PWL) category under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act despite the kingdom’s increased effort in eradicating copyright violation, says the United States Trade Representative (USTR)

According to Deputy Director General of the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), Kullanee Issadisai, currently there are 10 countries listed under the PWL categories. The ten countries are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela and Thailand.

The main reason hindering the nation’s copyright infringement eradication efforts is the legal loopholes in Thailand’s justice system that allow violators, such as pirated movie sellers, and land or shopping mall owners who allow vendors to continue operating their illegal businesses, to repeat the offenses, Ms. Kullanee said.

Besides, Thailand lacks tough enforcement and harsh punishment in the areas of local internet acts, business secret protection codes, and customs law related to imported goods.

The USTR also demands that Thailand urgently seek solutions to the unfair use of commercial patents, especially in medicine and agricultural chemical products, the Deputy Director General stated.

-- NNT 2014-05-02

[h90]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

[RogueLeader]

"Besides, Thailand lacks tough enforcement and harsh punishment in the areas of local internet acts..."

It really doesn't. It's the only non-communist country I've ever been to that actually tried to block Hotmail.

[Costas2008]

"Besides, Thailand lacks tough enforcement and harsh punishment in the areas of local internet acts..."

It really doesn't. It's the only non-communist country I've ever been to that actually tried to block Hotmail.

Yep, they should ban Yingluck's Facebook account.

[iReason]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

Edited May 2, 2014 by iReason

[Suradit69]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

People love HBO’s Game of Thrones, if it’s popularity on torrent sites and bulletin boards is anything to go by. We’ve heard author George R R Martin’s opinion on the issue, but what does HBO, the channel producing the TV interpretation, think of the situation?

Entertainment Weekly over in the States caught up with Michael Lombardo, HBO’s programming president and quizzed him on the network’s opinion of Game of Thrones’ popularity beyond conventional channels. Rather than seizing up or throwing out a passive-aggressive tirade, Lombardo talked about the good points of having such a highly pirated show:

I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts,” Lombardo said. “The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.”

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/04/hbo-has-a-refreshingly-progressive-view-on-game-of-thrones-piracy/

[thesetat2013]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

U

So you are so sweet and innocent that you NEVER downloaded a movie or a song or magazine or book or anything that didnt have a copyright?

It is just a movie. There are not many places you can buy the real thing here in Thailand in english

In some cases you can buy them at all in some cities so that is the only way to get them. I am not justifying the legality of it. But it is impossible to stop here when there is so much demand for it.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[AhFarangJa]

Keep on watching.....nothing will change

[lee b]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

So which movie did you star in, or what song lyrics did you write that were stolen ?

[iReason]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

U

So you are so sweet and innocent that you NEVER downloaded a movie or a song or magazine or book or anything that didnt have a copyright?

It is just a movie. There are not many places you can buy the real thing here in Thailand in english

In some cases you can buy them at all in some cities so that is the only way to get them. I am not justifying the legality of it. But it is impossible to stop here when there is so much demand for it.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

"There are not many places you can buy the real thing here in Thailand in english"?

There is this thing called the internet. On this internet, there are companies that will send you movies (and many other things) right to your door! Worldwide. Isn't that grand!? I hope this helps in your search...

P.S. If the internet is too confusing for you, they have these places called "Malls" too. You can get all sorts of cool stuff there as well.

[iReason]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

So which movie did you star in, or what song lyrics did you write that were stolen ?

"So" is conclusive. In conclusion. You need to make a statement first before you use it.

[Thaiready]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

So which movie did you star in, or what song lyrics did you write that were stolen ?

Everybody likes a little arse....but nobody likes a smart arse

[RogueLeader]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

Wherever you live, I would like to live there. It must be nice to live in a place where all the problems that are more important than some millionaires you've never met getting or not getting paid for playing at dressing up have been solved.

[Jingthing]

This loose legal situation is one of the "features" of living in Thailand. There aren't that many left!

[manzan]

There is 2 sides to every story :

On the one hand, the major studios and film distribution companies are reporting decent profits as it is, in a country like Thailand to have the pirated goods creates extra jobs and income for locals, rather then extra income for the shareholders of the major foreign studios, and the lower prices of pirated goods brings it into the affordability range of the ordinary person, who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it.

Note that this article is also talking about the patents on medicines, i'm sure you've noticed that in the pharmacy here you often have the choice between the original patented version and the local version. The difference in price is often very high, one can imagine that if the local versions are removed from the market, once again it becomes unaffordable for ordinary persons, or ordinary persons have to make a choice between food or medicine, this is to pay the shareholders of the big pharmaceutical companies, and they are reporting very high profits as it is.

one should consider that defending the copyrights in Thailand has the effects of growing of the income gap between the rich (ownership class) and the poor.

[Lupatria]

...land or shopping mall owners who allow vendors to continue operating their illegal businesses, to repeat the offenses,

How nice not to mention the cops sitting right next to the vendors on Sukhumvit

[zydeco]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

U

So you are so sweet and innocent that you NEVER downloaded a movie or a song or magazine or book or anything that didnt have a copyright?

It is just a movie. There are not many places you can buy the real thing here in Thailand in english

In some cases you can buy them at all in some cities so that is the only way to get them. I am not justifying the legality of it. But it is impossible to stop here when there is so much demand for it.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

In addition, when you do buy a legal copy of, say, a DVD, the quality control is poor. Through the years the legal DVDs I have bought have almost a 40 percent failure rate. And many titles are not even made available--all but endorsing downloading. Insatiable greed always results in end runs.

[Jingthing]

The American delete Mafia wants to get all the farms and it's cows to "Pay Up Suckers" It's a Tribal issue. Yu ain't in the tribe, you pay the delete tax. K U circle.

Delete is what? Rastafarians?

YA MON!

[h90]

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

It is still movies, simple silly entertainment.....If someone spend 100s of Millions to produce some silly entertainment than this is the investors problem. That doesn't make some children who watch a movie or listen to a song (which doesn't cost 100 of millions to sing) criminals.

I actually neither buy copies nor originals due to the lack of quality.....

[hardy1943]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Well there are bigger problems in Thailand than watching a movie without paying America for it.....At the end it is just a movie...

A completely ignorant, uninformed comment.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to educate you. Movie productions cost MILLIONS (100's at times). DVD's help pay for this at the back end.

Also, royalties (same as the CD's you buy) of the artist' work are stolen by bootleggers.

If you ever produce a movie or write a song, you would feel quite different.

Or produce anything else for that matter, other than hot air...

Thank you Newbie for showing some smarts

[hawker9000]

There is 2 sides to every story :

On the one hand, the major studios and film distribution companies are reporting decent profits as it is, in a country like Thailand to have the pirated goods creates extra jobs and income for locals, rather then extra income for the shareholders of the major foreign studios, and the lower prices of pirated goods brings it into the affordability range of the ordinary person, who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it.

Note that this article is also talking about the patents on medicines, i'm sure you've noticed that in the pharmacy here you often have the choice between the original patented version and the local version. The difference in price is often very high, one can imagine that if the local versions are removed from the market, once again it becomes unaffordable for ordinary persons, or ordinary persons have to make a choice between food or medicine, this is to pay the shareholders of the big pharmaceutical companies, and they are reporting very high profits as it is.

one should consider that defending the copyrights in Thailand has the effects of growing of the income gap between the rich (ownership class) and the poor.

Oh, ok. I get it. So YOU will decide when a media producer gets his return or not, based on the income differential between himself and the buyer. Hmmm. Well, I'll tell you what. I make far far less than the Hollywood media producers, A-list actors, diectors, etc; I'd like MY free DVDs please... (or is this one of those "situational" rationalizations dreamed up to justify whatever illicit behavior happens to be under the microscope?)

[Ulic]

Sales of pirate DVD's in Thailand do not affect profit margins of the US companies. Sales of pirate DVD's at flea markets in the US do.

It should also be remembered that print shops in the US pirated copy right books after independence from the UK. The question really

should be, for how long should developing countries be able to pirate copy rite materials to help bring its economy up to the level that

they can afford to pay royalties.

[Maroon Watcher]

supply and demand

Poor people cannot pay the same price as richer nations.

Walk the streets of China - Copies are 2 a penny compared to Western price.

Why not release a 1/2 price DVD after 1 year of sales...

Oh! But Satalitie TV would have nothing to show! Ha ha.

[Thai at Heart]

This loose legal situation is one of the "features" of living in Thailand. There aren't that many left!

Very artfully put.

I'd copywrite that phrase.

[elgordo38]

95% of the new movies I watch are out and out JUNK. If I was involved in their production I would go and hide my head in shame for foisting this garbage on unsuspecting movie goers. I see more and more aging name stars from the past in these junky movies looking for a has been pay day. Its solid repetition today watching movies that have a good number one effort and then they produce the same name movie again with a sick plot to suck in movie goers and DVD buyers. They sign up one fading star from the past and hope we are dumb enough to spend our hard earned money. I would cry if I had to go to a theatre and listen to their blarrrring speaker system buy their overpriced popcorn and drinks and sit there and suffer.

[tubby johnson]

I have very little sympathy with global corporations that charge exorbitant prices for crucial medicine. As for the media giants that produce derivative music and sequels of clichéd movie concepts, I haven't bought a DVD or CD for over 10 years. Always downloaded them.

Don't feed the 1% any more of your hard-earned cash, guys. They don't lose sleep worrying about our well-being, so why cry for them?

[puyaidon]

I have been buying DVD's from two major DVD outlets for many years. They are legal and if one is defective, I have had no problem in getting a replacement without comment. One time I had to change out three DVD's and determined the problem was not the DVD's but my machine. I had worn out the machine.

The only thing different with the DVD's is that here in Thailand, the format is Region 3. I have both Region 1 (US format) and Region 3 DVD's. The quality of the Region 3 DVD's is the same quality as what I would buy in the US.

If someone cannot get their defective DVD's replaced, they must be buying them from an illegal vendor. Again, if the quality is poor, another illegal vendor.

[CanInBKK]

There is 2 sides to every story :

On the one hand, the major studios and film distribution companies are reporting decent profits as it is, in a country like Thailand to have the pirated goods creates extra jobs and income for locals, rather then extra income for the shareholders of the major foreign studios, and the lower prices of pirated goods brings it into the affordability range of the ordinary person, who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it.

Note that this article is also talking about the patents on medicines, i'm sure you've noticed that in the pharmacy here you often have the choice between the original patented version and the local version. The difference in price is often very high, one can imagine that if the local versions are removed from the market, once again it becomes unaffordable for ordinary persons, or ordinary persons have to make a choice between food or medicine, this is to pay the shareholders of the big pharmaceutical companies, and they are reporting very high profits as it is.

one should consider that defending the copyrights in Thailand has the effects of growing of the income gap between the rich (ownership class) and the poor.

Oh, ok. I get it. So YOU will decide when a media producer gets his return or not, based on the income differential between himself and the buyer. Hmmm. Well, I'll tell you what. I make far far less than the Hollywood media producers, A-list actors, diectors, etc; I'd like MY free DVDs please... (or is this one of those "situational" rationalizations dreamed up to justify whatever illicit behavior happens to be under the microscope?)

I don't get it. You don't have internet access? Your free DVD is waiting for you (and everybody else).

<Yes, I'm being sarcastic>

[ggt]

Good Luck with that!

[kaldoverde]

"Besides, Thailand lacks tough enforcement and harsh punishment in the areas of local internet acts..."

It really doesn't. It's the only non-communist country I've ever been to that actually tried to block Hotmail.

Couldn't agree more RogueLeader.

Most betting websites are banned and they also banned bitcoin, so enforcement doesn't seem to be a problem. Surely the profits from the piracy industry here in Thailand fill the pockets of some, hence the lack of will to do anything.