Bulgarian Council of Ministers (Council of Ministers) Recently approved a law designed to bring "Create conditions for online piracy" Of the people convicted and brought charges "Penal law" Draft amendment. The proposed amendment is also Bulgaria's response to the critical comments of the United States, The latter opinion is best known through the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published "particularly 301 Report" . Bulgaria has the highest hopes 6 A sentence of one year in prison would send a deterrent message.

When the United States failed to crack down on piracy "Standard" Be included in USTR the "Watch list" when, Most countries will be under pressure for years, And the United States every year "particularly 301 Report" Will declare that more needs to be done.

Bulgaria in 2015 Was placed on the watch list, then USTR It is reported that, The country has made progress in tackling intellectual property infringement "Incremental progress" , But not nearly enough to cope "Not so good" The prosecution rate of. 2013 years, The Bulgarian Ministry of Culture conducted 743 Second check related to Internet copyright infringement, But a year later, The country only carried on 13 Next inspection.

The United States has reported, Bulgaria is continuing its efforts to draft a new one "Penal law" , The aim is to drastically reduce piracy. This goal will eventually be achieved, But it could take a long time.

Progress in Bulgaria

2018 years, The United States removed Bulgaria from "Watch list" Delete from, The rationale is that the government is likely to deliver. 2020 years, Prosecutors in the country have filed only one copyright indictment. In the next year, Not a single person has been charged with copyright infringement.

however, 2022 annual "particularly 301 Report" warn, USTR Periodic reviews will be conducted, To assess whether the country has achieved "Any substantial progress" .

2022 years 9 month, In a report on trade barriers Bulgaria still suffers "Weak protection of intellectual property rights" Received further criticism, That same month, The United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator reported, These related issues are only Bulgaria "Larger rule of law issues" Part of.

In this context, Bulgaria may find itself close again "Watch list" . But recently, The country has taken a significant step.

"Penal law" Draft amendment

Bulgaria's work on legal amendments was reported in the United States 8 After the New Year, Things have changed. Not long ago, The Council of Ministers approved it "Penal law" Draft amendment, The draft law aims to protect authors, Rights holders and state revenues.

The explanatory note to the draft reads: "Crimes of infringement of intellectual property rights should be considered as acts of high public danger, It takes into account not only the rights and interests of the individual authors affected by it, It also takes into account the economic losses of the holders of these rights, This also affects the revenue of the State budget. "

The stated goal of the bill is to address the identified abuses by improving the substantive law, To combat computer-related crimes of intellectual property infringement. The draft mentioned those with criminal purposes "Establish or maintain" Information system or "For services to the information society" Those who. These notes provide further clarification.

The draft states that: "The bill aims to bring to justice those who create conditions for online piracy, Such as, By building and maintaining torrents (torrent) Tracking site, Network platform, Chat groups in online communication applications used to communicate pirated content online, And any others that may belong to "Electronic commerce law" prescribed 'Information society service' Define the activities within the scope, These activities are carried out with a specific criminal purpose. "

Bulgaria's response to American criticism

The Government of Bulgaria states that, The amendment is part of its response to U. S. criticism. Bulgaria in the past 5 Mid-year is not included "Watch list" , This is due to the specific efforts made by the Government in the fight against piracy.

The draft amendment approved by the Council of Ministers provides for maximum sentences for related offences 6 Years of imprisonment and maximum 1 Ten thousand Bulgarian levs (5600 U. S. dollar) Fine of. merely, The draft does not prosecute the content of individual users who simply consume pirated content. (Be compiled from torrentfreak. com)

TRANSLATORS: Wang Dan　proofread: Rason group

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