The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019 39 Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Italy, 1990s By Kevin McGuire There is a great deal of attention today on problems with intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, particularly by China. This is not a new issue, and it is worth noting that a great deal of progress has been made in this area over the years through persistent bilateral and multilat- eral diplomatic efforts. In the late 1980s, we at Embassy Seoul spent a great deal of time and effort on such issues, with significant success. But as I discovered after being transferred to Rome as economic minister counselor in 1990, IPR problems are not always restricted to developing nations. The U.S. Business Software Alliance informed us that they planned to seek U.S. trade retalia- tion against Italy because of the tremendous amount of pirated software that was being sold and used there. We suggested that perhaps a better way would be to work with us at the embassy to put together a program to address the problem. The BSA was enthusiastic about trying that approach; and so, working closely with their representatives, we organized an all-out blitz. We approached Italian companies involved in software/hard- ware-related products and found they shared our concerns. Ital- ian businesspeople were very eager to participate in developing a program that would put new laws in place and enforce them. We went to the foreign ministry and the prime minister’s office, and we talked to political party representatives. We got the BSA and their Italian colleagues to come up with specific draft legislation that would help solve the problem and also asked for suggestions on how enforcement could be improved. With cooperation from Italian ministry officials, we sold the package to the parties in the coalition government, and the legislation passed. New enforcement techniques were also put in place to help police the new regulations. I remember getting phone calls from Italian contacts saying, “You’re a real pain in the neck. I’ve got the Carabinieri in my office looking for pirated software.” The effort was so successful that instead of pushing for a special Section 301 action against the Italians, the BSA got a resolution passed in the U.S. Congress praising the Italian govern- ment for its efforts in dealing with the piracy problem. The case was an interesting example of how an embassy can be an activist in conceiving programs and putting together coali- tions to help solve serious problems for American companies. We were successful because we had sufficient staff in the economic section, a staff that was well-trained and capable of maintaining strong ties to relevant host-country officials and to the local business community. Disney representatives, who had previ- ously avoided coming around to see us, heard about our success. They had earlier decided to address their film piracy problems through the courts, but that approach was proving expensive, time-consuming and largely fruit- less. After our partnership with BSA produced results, Disney asked us for help, as well. So we sat down with a Disney team and plotted out a somewhat different strategy for dealing with their problem. We used many of the same players in the Italian government, starting with the foreign ministry and the prime minister’s office, and also the parliament and law enforcement agencies. We got Disney and other moviemakers who had been affected by piracy to spon- sor seminars for judges and supervisory police officials to educate them on the nature of the problem and ways to get rid of it. Once again, we found strong Italian support for action, in part because proceeds frommany of the pirated videos were going to organized crime, the Mafia and its equivalent in other parts of the country. Before we got involved, things happened along the follow- ing lines. A film courier would come into the country carrying a sealed bag with copies of a first-run movie. The movie was supposed to be delivered to the relevant theaters the next day, but the Mafia would pay off the couriers. They had warehouses set up with hundreds of recording machines, so they could make thousands of top-quality copies overnight and have vendors out on the street selling them before the filmwas released. As a result of our efforts laws were strengthened, and the police put addi- tional people on the monitoring side, closing down illegal copy- ing facilities and arresting street vendors. Judges began handing down heavy punishments for violations. It was another example of what an adequately staffed embassy can do when confronted with a problem. Very few Americans know about these types of diplomatic accomplishments. The BSA people were very gracious, both pri- Mickey Mouse and Kevin McGuire reminisce about past battles. COURTESYOFKEVINMCGUIRE