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SECTION III. NOTORIOUS MARKETS
Global piracy and counterfeiting continue to thrive due in part to marketplaces that deal in infringing goods. The 2010 Special 301 Report notes the following markets, including those on the Internet, as examples of marketplaces that have been the subject of enforcement action or that may merit further investigation for possible IPR infringements, or both. The list represents a selective summary of information reviewed during the Special 301 process; it is not a finding of violations of law. The United States encourages the responsible authorities to step up efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets.
Internet Markets
- Baidu (China). The U.S. music industry reports that the vast majority of all illegal downloads of music in China are associated with Baidu. Baidu is the target of ongoing infringement actions by both domestic and foreign rights holders. Baidu executives continue to deny responsibility for content hosted by other websites. Several rights holders are pursuing legal action in Chinese courts.
- Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) websites (China). A large number of Chinese websites, such as TaoBao and Alibaba, the top two online marketplaces selling game copiers, have been cited by industry as offering infringing products to consumers and businesses.
- TV Ants (China). Industry reports that this website is a notorious hub of online piracy with respect to sporting event telecasts.
- Allofmp3.com clones (Russia). Although allofmp3 (formerly the world's largest server-based pirate music website) was shut down in 2007, a nearly identical site has taken its place and continues illegally distribute copyrighted materials. Several other sites provide similar services. In addition, Russia is host to several major BitTorrent indexing sites that are popular channels for illegal peer-to-peer downloading.
- Webhards (Korea). Webhards are web-based storage services that offer high-volume storage space, some up to a terabyte, for sharing of pirated material. While two well-known webhards now provide legal content and the Korean government has prosecuted some webhard operators, there remain numerous webhards operating in Korean webspace that provide illegal content.
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