Taiwan has been left out of the latest list of markets supporting counterfeiting issued by the United States government after being identified in the previous two years’ lists as the host of a pirated entertainment website.
In the 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy, Taiwan was no longer mentioned as the host of “DYTT8,” which the report described as a popular non-English site that provides links to unlicensed movies, TV shows, music and software.
The annual list, the latest version of which was released Thursday by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
The 2020 review said DYTT8 was hosted in Taiwan and that authorities in China had been investigating the site since 2019.
That mention was not included in the latest DYTT8 review, however, and there was no explanation what led to the change. The report described DYTT8 as remaining a particular threat to legitimate content providers both within and outside China.
The Intellectual Property Office under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has said previously that it told the United States after the 2020 review was released that DYTT8 was not actually based in Taiwan but rather in China.
The USTR said its latest review identified 42 online markets and 35 physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy — with a number of them in China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The report identified for the first time AliExpress and the WeChat e-commerce ecosystem, two significant China-based online markets, as reportedly facilitating substantial trademark counterfeiting.
China-based online markets Baidu Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo, and Taobao were listed again, as were seven of the nine physical markets within China highlighted in the report as being known for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods.
According to the USTR, the annual notorious markets list does not constitute an exhaustive list of all markets reported to deal in or facilitate commercial-scale copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting.
The report does not reflect findings of legal violations or the U.S. government’s analysis of the general intellectual property protection and enforcement climate in the country concerned, it said.
USTR first identified notorious markets in the Special 301 Report in 2006, but has published the notorious markets list separately on an annual basis since 2011 to increase public awareness.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel