Representatives from content industries urged Congress to get tough on China regarding intellectual privacy laws, and they found a receptive audience at a House Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce hearing. Subcommittee Chmn. Stearns (R-Fla.) called the March 31 hearing in anticipation of a U.S.-China Joint Commission on Trade meeting April 21-22. Among the witnesses were MPAA Exec. Vp Fritz Attaway, RIAA Senior Vp Joe Papovich and Entertainment Software Assn. Pres. Douglas Lowenstein. “Obviously, all of us would like to see increased attention to piracy and counterfeiting issues,” Stearns said. “Piracy of U.S. intellectual property in China may exceed $1 billion per year. This is a real problem for U.S. exports, and if remedied would help in balancing the U.S.-China trade deficit.” Papovich said, “Internet piracy is growing in China,” with certain websites fueling CD copying. China “must criminally prosecute major pirates, producers, traders, distributors and Internet pirates,” he said, adding today “China does not, in part because they choose not to, and in part because their law authorizes criminal prosecutions for copyright piracy only if” the revenue or profits exceed certain thresholds. Rep. Otter (R-Ida.) said Internet piracy in the U.S. contributes to the problem. “In minutes, a child in the United States can purchase a CD or a DVD and upload it on a file-sharing Internet service,” he said: “Shortly after, someone in China can download a perfect copy of that CD or that DVD, package it and illegally sell it in an open street market with little or no concern about any repercussions.” Lowenstein showed a photo of one of China’s 200,000 Internet cafes, which he said typically seat 100-300. “These cafes are the primary source of Internet access for millions of Chinese citizens, and if all of them purchased legal games that would really been a boon to the software market. But unfortunately, in most cases, the games they make available to their customers are pirate products.” He also said “China must criminalize the circumvention of technological protection measures like these mod chips I showed you and the trafficking in the circumvention devices, and they should quickly accede to the WIPO Internet Treaty.”

A House subcommittee at our deadline was marking up newly introduced legislation that would criminalize unauthorized file- sharing on P2P networks.

The U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., announced it would convene a “merits panel” to consider a mandamus petition sought by a coalition of businesses and trade associations concerned about the FCC’s special access policies. In a tersely worded order March 23, the court said it took the action “on its own” and plans to seek briefs and hold an oral argument. The move surprised even the petitioners. Although mandamus petitions usually face an uphill battle, the court signaled its interest in Dec. by ordering the FCC to respond to the petition.

Customs Not in Contempt for Revoking is Approval for the "Duty-free" Sale of Fuels.In Ammex, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Court of International Trade's (CIT's) denial of Ammex's motion to hold Customs in contempt because it revoked approval of the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel on a duty- and tax-free basis at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, MI and Windsor, Canada.

The Wall Street Journal states that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is declaring a temporary hiring freeze at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to a potential $1.2 billion budget shortfall. According to the article, the exact cause of the budget shortfall is unclear and may simply be a computer glitch. (WSJ, 03/26/04, www.wsj.com )

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an administrative message announcing that several changes will be made to ABI and FDA software, effective April 14, 2004, to improve the process for filing FDA Prior Notices of imported food (PNs), as follows:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a press release on March 18, 2004 announcing that the U.S. has filed a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against China regarding its discriminatory tax rebate policy for integrated circuits.

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) has announced the launch of the DDTC Response Team.

Washington Trade Daily reports that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman hopes to see action on H.R. 2896, his bill that would repeal the Extraterritorial Income Tax Exclusion (ETI) before the House adjourns for the Easter recess in late March/early April. According to the article, H.R. 2896 would replace ETI with a new tax cut for domestic manufacturers and propose an array of international law changes aimed at making U.S. businesses more competitive abroad. The article notes that Congress is under pressure to repeal ETI in order to end sanctions against certain U.S. goods which the European Union imposed as of March 1, 2004. (WTD dated 03/18/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com.)

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a notice announcing that it has received a petition from FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc. (FedEx) for an exemption from the tariff publishing and adherence requirements of the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended (Shipping Act) in order to permit it to depart from the provisions of its tariff and enter into confidential service contracts for ocean transportation services with shippers.