In the scramble to prove that the DR is getting tough on intellectual property piracy and thereby avoid U.S. trade sanctions, authorities yesterday closed two cable TV companies in La Vega – Cable Real and Visaldom – on charges that they were pirating satellite American and European TV signals. The Directorate-General of Telecommunications (DGT) is due to meet today with all Dominican broadcasters to discuss steps DGT plans to take to curb TV piracy in the DR. These steps are being taken as the DR’s government becomes increasingly worried that it will end up on the United States’ "Priority Watch List" under the so-called "Special 301" trade law. Under the law, countries placed on the Priority Watch List by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) can be subjected to trade sanctions if they do not take steps to combat intellectual property rights (IPR) problems identified by USTR. This could mean, for example, that the DR would lose its free entry or preferential-tariff treatment under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a step that would devastate the Dominican textile industry. USTR has for years warned the DR that U.S. officials regularly receive complaints from U.S. broadcasters that Dominican companies are pirating their satellite signals, tapping programs without paying royalties for the privilege as called for under international law. USTR officials have also complained several times that Dominican authorities are not doing enough to curb the practice.
