Malaysia trade talks could scupper disk pirates

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's free trade talks with the United States may be faltering, but they are already having an impact on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, where a vigorous crackdown on illegal music and movies has sent pirates scurrying.

Tourists know Malaysia as a haven for cheap copies of the latest films and songs, but the country is trying to shake off that reputation as it negotiates a free trade pact with the United States that will beef up intellectual property protection. Malaysia's trade minister has said she did not expect the talks to wrap up by a July deadline. But U.S. trade officials were more optimistic, pointing to moves to hound illegal disk vendors off the streets of the Malaysian capital.

"Increasingly every country in the world is recognizing that what they're facing in counterfeiting is real organized crime," Peter Fowler, a U.S. commerce department lawyer and one of the trade pact's negotiators, said during a visit to Malaysia.

From conventional moves such as more raids, powerful machines to scan cargo at ports, tougher laws and a dedicated court for piracy cases to unusual steps such as a plan to train dogs to sniff out DVDs, Malaysia is determined to clean up its act.

Last week, customs officials at the capital's Kuala Lumpur International Airport busted a scam that used PVC pipes to smuggle in pirated DVDs, after the images generated by X-ray scans of the packages aroused their suspicions.

Malaysian law enforcement officials have become more focused on piracy over the past year, entertainment industry officials say.

"There's been a drastic change, especially since last year," said Tan Ngiap Foo, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia, which groups more than 100 companies, and leads the industry's effort to battle copyright fraud.

PHONE RECORDERS

In the first three months of 2006, Malaysia revoked the licenses of six factories that were churning out illegal copies of music disks as a profitable sideline, Tan told Reuters.

The value of machines and disks seized in raids on the factories was almost 95 million ringgit last year, or nearly four times the figure for 2005, government data show.

Some of the zeal comes from wanting to see the trade talks succeed and to get off a U.S. watchlist on piracy, but Malaysia's entertainment industry backs the crackdown.

"We are using the FTA negotiation to echo what the government has been saying and the MPA is pushing for the copyright law to be amended, and also for a law against camcorders in cinemas," said Nor Hayati Yahaya, country manager of the Motion Picture Association, which groups the world's major movie companies.