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Fighting the pirates
Fighting the pirates
By Achara Ashayagachat
Thailand agreed to join a US-initiated regional network to combat intellectual property crimes after a US-led meeting in Bangkok this week.
The US Department of Justice and the US Patent and Trademark Office teamed up with Asean countries at the four-day meeting to establish the regional Intellectual Property Crimes Enforcement Network (IPcen).
Its stated aim is to build on the success of the G-8 collaboration a decade ago, said Sigal Mandelker, the department's deputy assistant attorney-general for the criminal division.
Enhanced contacts between law enforcement officials would result in better information sharing and arrests of wanted criminals, said Ms Mandelker.
"To be successful in addressing the global concerns, we need to target and pin down multinational cases or large-scale organised criminal syndicates. But so far such a [law enforcement] network is hardly found here," she said.
"The 1997 meeting of the G-8 law enforcers helped us establish individual and agency expert contacts that could make a rapid response to calls for help. After the Bangkok meeting, we will develop such a network in Eastern Europe," Ms Mandelker said.
Sixty high-level police and customs officials and prosecutors from 13 countries have been participating in the conference, which ended yesterday, to exchange best practices and lessons learned in addressing
- retail counterfeiting and piracy;
- the mass production and distribution of counterfeit goods such as optical discs;
- Internet-based intellectual property theft, and, -
- border enforcement; and communication channels to promote multinational prosecutions serious offenders.
James Entwistle, minister counsellor of the US embassy in Bangkok, said Thai officials co-operated well with the US and the rest of the world, but the size of the IP crime problem was so overwhelming that a regional network was necessary.
James Finch, assistant director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Division, said counterfeit products not only hurt the economy, but are also a serious threat to the health and safety of everyone.
Christopher Sonderby, the Justice Department attache{aac} at the US embassy, said IP crimes cost billions of dollars annually. The region needs to look at safety issues stemming from fake pharmaceuticals, batteries or airplane parts, he said.
Pol Col Narat Savetanand, the Department of the Special Investigation's commander in charge of IP cases, said Thailand already shares intelligence information under the Interpol framework.
Bangkok Post
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