Persistent violation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is causing serious concern in Government circles with the surfacing of the possibility of imposition of retaliatory trade measures by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). At a bilateral level, Pakistan has been on the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) priority watch list since 1999 and there are fears that the US government may impose some form of trade sanctions which may jeopardise the entire gamut of US-Pakistan relations.
Pakistan cannot afford to alienate a measure aid donor, trade partner and principal ally in President Musharraf's ongoing war on terror and there is evidence that the Government is determined to deal with the issue of piracy. However, in the past the Government's focus was on legislation, which proved difficult to enforce, thereby accounting for a proliferation of illegal factories involved in optical media piracy.
This focus appears unchanged and President Musharraf is reportedly going to sign a document establishing Pakistan Intellectual Property Rights Organisation. While establishing such an organisation is a necessary preliminary step in the right direction, yet past precedence provides fertile ground for scepticism.
This country has witnessed the establishment of several watchdog organisations, including those relating to environment protection, however such organisations have found it difficult, if not impossible, to enforce efficacious rules and regulations.
Thus while enacting legislation may indicate political will to deal with the issue in other countries, yet in the case of Pakistan it maybe viewed as an attempt to appease foreign concerns without having to take action that may prove unpopular.
There is, therefore, an urgent need for the Government to back its good intentions as reflected in appropriate legislation, with enforcement and considering that the IIPA and the USTR have even identified the factories with the capacity to produce optical media discs, it must close them forthwith.
There are without doubt cogent moral arguments in favour of allowing the manufacture of cheaper generic drugs locally, especially for AIDS sufferers in developing countries, a move fiercely resisted by the international pharmaceutical companies, yet such arguments do not apply as well to optical media piracy by countries like Pakistan.
Some, however, point to the low literacy rates in the country and thereby endorse the decision taken by Z.A. Bhutto in the 1970s to suspend international copyright laws for expensive textbooks and allow them to be published locally by the now defunct National Textbook Foundation.
However, unlike the 1970s, piracy has become a multi-billion dollar industry, which accounts for international companies exerting considerable pressure on their governments to restrict its spread. Such pressure groups are particularly evident in the United States and are backed by big money, which is injected into their political system. In this context, it is unlikely that the pressure on Pakistan to deal with piracy is going to abate; on the contrary it will only increase with time.
There are some who argue in favour of providing affordable digital discs to the domestic market, but what is disturbing is the fact that Pakistan's domestic consumption of pirated discs is estimated at approximately 7 million per annum while actual production is about 66 million. The difference is smuggled outside the country and this is, understandably, causing anxiety to the IIPA as well as the USTR.
To dismiss it as a source of income, employment and foreign exchange would be naïve, as its negative fallout in terms of retaliatory trade sanctions may prove extremely detrimental to the county's economic health. Thus it is imperative that legislation be enacted and enforced.