US plans Bollywood piracy probe

Washington: The US Chamber of Commerce plans to conduct a study in India to measure the effects of piracy on Bollywood as part of a three-ronged strategy for fighting counterfeiting, piracy and intellectual property theft.

The study in India is part of plans to expand the scope and intensity a multimillion-dollar programme to fight a growing threat that cost the US economy between $200 billion and $250 billion per year and a total of 750,000 American jobs, the chamber announced on Thursday as it released its annual State of American Business report.

The chamber's three-part strategy of education, detection, and enforcement includes a US consumer study in targeted congressional districts, a study on the overall impact of piracy on the copyright industry, and Indian intellectual property law training programmes.

Described as the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organisations of every size, sector, and region, the chamber also proposes to have discussions with major economic players including Europe, China, India, Japan, Brazil, and South Korea to fight what it called the rise of economic nationalism.

The trend was manifested by the increasing number of investment restrictions and hurdles under consideration in the US as well as in both developing and developed economies.

The chamber's initiative would also target regulations in the US and abroad that, intentionally or unintentionally, favour domestic participants and squeeze out foreign competitors.

Listing the US-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement among its 'Winning for Business in Congress' in 2006, it said the accord 'opens extraordinary new commercial opportunities for US companies and workers in the energy, technology, and construction sectors in the world's second most populous nation.'

Working with many organisations, companies, coalitions, and legislators, the chamber helped win passage of major business legislation in the 109th Congress, said the chamber.

Releasing the annual report, outlining the chamber's legislative priorities for 2007, Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue said, “Our view is that the state of American business is fundamentally strong and that the American economy will perform reasonably well in the coming year.”

The report highlights several major policy initiatives for the business community during 2007.

These include passing comprehensive immigration reform; implementing a new and aggressive programme to improve the nation's education system; devising a national energy policy that addresses both supply and demand; and increased efforts in the areas of legal reform, counterfeiting, trade policy, and capital markets.