US dubs Baidu a 'pirate' operation

THE US GOVERNMENT has dubbed China's top search engine, Baidu as a key player in the peddling of knockoff goods.

The outfit was among 33 websites or public markets that were tarred and feathered in the US Trade Representative's office report.

Apparently they all facilitate trade in music, clothing and other goods that are fake or unauthorized copies.

Baidu links to websites that sell counterfeit goods while outside merchants use Taobao, an e-commerce platform operated by Alibaba, to sell infringing items, the report said.

It said that the list was not the result of a legal investigation but an effort to call attention to abuses and encourage governments to stop them.

"The United States urges the responsible authorities to intensify efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets," the report said.

The online outfit Taobao was making "significant efforts" to address piracy but "still has a long way to go in order to resolve those problems".

The report said that Alibaba was another which has taken responsibility for problems after its top two executives resigned after a probe found suppliers defrauded customers. It said 100 salespeople, out of a workforce of 14,000, who allegedly were involved in defrauding customers were fired.

Other websites named and shamed include Isohunt, Rutracker, 91.com and Demonoid.

The report also claimed that the entire economy of a whole city in Paraguay, Ciudad del Este, is "based in part on the trafficking of counterfeit and infringed goods," especially electronics. We're not sure that Mr Patel on the corner who flogs mostly milk can really be considered a 'pirate', but if you are going to be that general it does not matter. µ