82 FR 38987 - 2017 Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets: Comment Request

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 157 (August 16, 2017)

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) requests written comments that identify online and physical markets based outside the United States that should be included in the 2017 Notorious Markets List (List). Conducted under the auspices of the Special 301 program, the List identifies online and physical marketplaces that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. In 2010, USTR began publishing the Notorious Markets List separately from the annual Special 301 Report as an ``Out-of-Cycle Review.''

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38987-38988]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17287]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket Number USTR-2017-0015]


2017 Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets: 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) 
requests written comments that identify online and physical markets 
based outside the United States that should be included in the 2017 
Notorious Markets List (List). Conducted under the auspices of the 
Special 301 program, the List identifies online and physical 
marketplaces that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial 
copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. In 2010, USTR began 
publishing the Notorious Markets List separately from the annual 
Special 301 Report as an ``Out-of-Cycle Review.''

DATES: 
    October 2, 2017 at midnight EST: Deadline for submission of written 
comments.
    October 16, 2017 at midnight EST: Deadline for submission of 
rebuttal comments and other information USTR should consider during the 
review.

ADDRESSES: You should submit written comments through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments in section III below. For alternatives to on-
line submissions, please contact USTR at [email protected] before 
transmitting a comment and in advance of the relevant deadline.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Peterson, Director for 
Intellectual Property and Innovation, at [email protected]. You 
can find information about the Special 301 Review, including the 
Notorious Markets List, at www.USTR.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The United States is concerned with trademark counterfeiting and 
copyright piracy on a commercial scale because they cause significant 
financial losses for rights holders, legitimate businesses and 
governments, undermine critical U.S. comparative advantages in 
innovation and creativity to the detriment of American workers, and 
potentially pose significant risks to consumer health and safety as 
well as privacy and security. The Notorious Markets List identifies 
select online and physical marketplaces that reportedly engage in or 
facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.
    Beginning in 2006, USTR identified notorious markets in the annual 
Special 301 Report. In 2010, pursuant to the Administration's 2010 
Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, USTR 
announced that it would publish the List as an Out-of-Cycle Review, 
separate from the annual Special 301 Report. USTR published the first 
List in February 2011. USTR develops the annual List based upon public 
comments solicited through the Federal Register and in consultation 
with other Federal agencies that serve on the Special 301 Subcommittee 
of the Trade Policy Staff Committee.
    The United States encourages owners and operators of markets 
reportedly involved in piracy and counterfeiting to adopt business 
models that rely on the licensed distribution of legitimate content and 
products and to work with rights holders and enforcement officials to 
address infringement. USTR also encourages responsible government 
authorities to intensify their efforts to investigate reports of piracy 
and counterfeiting in such markets, and to pursue appropriate 
enforcement actions. The List does not purport to reflect findings of 
legal violations, nor does it reflect the United States Government's 
analysis of the general intellectual property rights (IPR) protection 
and enforcement climate in the country or countries concerned. For an 
analysis of the IPR climate in particular countries, please refer to 
the annual Special 301 Report, published each spring no later than 30 
days after USTR submits the National Trade Estimate to Congress.

II. Public Comments

    USTR invites written comments concerning examples of online and 
physical notorious markets, including foreign trade zones that 
allegedly facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting and copyright 
piracy. To facilitate the review, written comments should be as 
detailed as possible. Comments must clearly identify the market and the 
reasons why the commenter believes that the market should be included 
in the List. Commenters should include the following information, as 
applicable:
     If a physical market, the market's name and location, 
e.g., common name, street address, neighborhood, shopping district, 
city, etc., and the identity of the principal owners/operators.
     If an online market:
    [cir] The domain name(s) past and present, available registration 
information, and name(s) and location(s) of the hosting provider(s) and 
operator(s).
    [cir] Information on the volume of Internet traffic associated with 
the Web site, including number of visitors and page views, average time 
spent on the site, estimate of the number of infringing goods offered, 
sold or traded and number of infringing files streamed, shared, seeded, 
leeched, downloaded, uploaded or otherwise distributed or reproduced, 
and global or country popularity rating (e.g., Alexa rank).
    [cir] Revenue sources such as sales, subscriptions, donations, 
upload incentives, or advertising and the

[[Page 38988]]

methods by which that revenue is collected.
     Whether the market is owned, operated or otherwise 
affiliated with a government entity.
     Types of counterfeit or pirated products or services sold, 
traded, distributed or otherwise made available at that market.
     Volume of counterfeit or pirated goods or services or 
other indicia of a market's scale, reach or relative significance in a 
given geographic area or with respect to a category of goods or 
services.
     Estimates of economic harm to right holders resulting from 
the piracy or counterfeiting and a description of the methodology used 
to calculate the harm.
     Whether the volume of counterfeit or pirated goods or 
estimates of harm has increased or decreased from previous years, and 
an approximate calculation of that increase or decrease for each year.
     Whether the infringing goods or services sold, traded, 
distributed or made available pose a risk to public health or safety.
     Any known contractual, civil, administrative or criminal 
enforcement activity against the market and the outcome of that 
enforcement activity.
     Additional actions taken by rights holders against the 
market such as takedown notices, requests to sites to remove URLs or 
infringing content, cease and desist letters, warning letters to 
landlords and requests to enforce the terms of their leases, requests 
to providers to enforce their terms of service or terms of use, and the 
outcome of these actions.
     Additional actions taken by the market owners or operators 
to remove, limit or discourage the availability of counterfeit or 
pirated goods or services, including policies to prevent or remove 
access to such goods or services, or to disable seller or user 
accounts; the effectiveness of market policies and guidelines in 
addressing counterfeiting and piracy; and the level of cooperation with 
right holders and law enforcement.
     Any other additional information relevant to the review.

III. Submission Instructions

    All submissions must be in English and sent electronically via 
www.regulations.gov. To submit comments, locate the docket (folder) by 
entering the docket number USTR-2017-0015 in the ``Enter Keyword or 
IP'' window at the regulations.gov homepage and click ``Search.'' The 
site will provide a search-results page listing all documents 
associated with this docket. Locate the reference to this notice by 
selecting ``Notice'' under ``Document Type'' on the left side of the 
search-results page, and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now!'' 
You should provide comments in an attached document, and name the file 
according to the following protocol, as appropriate: Commenter Name or 
Organization_2017 Notorious Markets OCR. Please include the following 
information in the ``Type Comment'' field: ``2017 Out-of-Cycle Review 
of Notorious Markets.'' USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word 
(.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. If the submission is in another 
file format, please indicate the name of the software application in 
the ``Type Comment'' field. For further information on using the 
www.regulations.gov Web site, please select ``How to Use 
Regulations.gov'' on the bottom of any page.
    Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic 
submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a 
cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in 
the same file as the comment itself, rather than submitting them as 
separate files.
    For any comment submitted electronically that contains business 
confidential information, the file name of the business confidential 
version should begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing 
business confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS 
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page and the submission should 
clearly indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or other means, the 
specific information that is business confidential. A filer requesting 
business confidential treatment must certify that the information is 
business confidential and would not customarily be released to the 
public by the submitter. Additionally, the submitter should type 
``Business Confidential 2017 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets'' 
in the ``Comment'' field.
    Filers of comments containing business confidential information 
also must submit a public version of their comments. The file name of 
the public version should begin with the character ``P''. The non-
business confidential version will be placed in the docket at 
www.regulations.gov and be available for public inspection.
    As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through 
www.regulations.gov. You must make any alternative arrangements in 
advance of the relevant deadline and before transmitting a comment by 
contacting USTR at [email protected].
    We will post comments in the docket for public inspection, except 
business confidential information. You can view comments on the https://www.regulations.gov Web site by entering docket number USTR-2017-0015 
in the search field on the home page.

Elizabeth Kendall,
Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation and 
Intellectual Property, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative.
[FR Doc. 2017-17287 Filed 8-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3290-F7-P