Right holders urge to leave "VKontakte" in the list of "pirates"

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Company Association of America (RIAA), the two largest US organizations defending the interests of rights holders, recommended that the US Trade Representative leave the Vkontakte social network in which the US usually includes violators of copyright and related rights. According to the newspaper Vedomosti, right now the agency is collecting the opinions of all interested parties in order to form a list of countries for 2014, which are the largest markets for the distribution of piracy of music, films and other content. At the end of September of this year, a representative of the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) wrote to officials of the Trade Representation that Russia as a whole does not fulfill its obligations to protect copyright and related rights taken after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2012. Among the examples he also pointed "Vkontakte" to which the state does not apply any measures.

RIAA and MPAA placed "Vkontakte" in the list of online pirates under the first number. “Vkontakte” is the largest social network in Russia and in Russian-speaking countries, being the source of illegal distribution of films, television programs and music, the MPAA said. “The site is very popular, searching and downloading content is easy, and the site supports streaming video playback through the built-in players.”