Ukraine Tries to Avoid U.S. Trade Restrictions

GMFTatsujin writes: "In response to the threat of US trade sanctions, the Ukraine parliament hastily passed an anti-piracy bill aimed at reducing the bootlegged CD problem. I especially liked this quote from this Wired article: '"We are deeply disappointed that Ukraine has not passed an effective law and instead is rushing through an ineffective law," said Eric Schwartz, vice president and special counsel of the International Intellectual Property Alliance." This is a follow-up to our story of two weeks ago about Ukraine not complying with U.S. demands for 'an optical media licensing regime.'

Comments

High price = incentive to pirate

[PowerTroll 5000]

From the Wired article:

Music and other CDs that sell for more than $15 in Western Europe cost about $3 for a pirated copy in the capital Kiev.

Now, if CD's were a little cheaper, there'd be less incentive to pirate. This is testimony to the inefficient distribution model in place today for the music industry. A lot of hands in the till, as they say.