US removes TAIWAN from the Special 301 list

The United States very recently removed Taiwan from the list of countries failing to protect Intellectual Property Rights. This move by the US proves that Taiwan has done alot to stamp out violation of IPRs. The decision to remove Taiwan from the list came on Friday the 16th of January 2009, when the US Trade Representative's office (USTR) announced that it was removing Taiwan from its watch list, which warns countries of sanctions if they fail to protect IPRs.

The measures taken by the Taiwanese government to protect IPRs include:

• establishment of a special intellectual property court,
• further efforts to improve implementation of the action plan for protection on school campuses,
• progress toward passage of amendments to the copyright law

The US is keeping a close watch on Taiwan as its parliament plans to enact a pending legislation to fight internet piracy, and tightening customs and border checks against import and export of pirated products.

This is just a small step taken by Taiwan to fight the menace of piracy, but in the long run it has to do a lot more to make sure that the world does not look at it as a 'Haven for Pirates'.