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MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Copyright...

MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Copyright piracy in Russia which has been a major obstacle to the country joining the WTO dropped by 15% in 2007, year-on-year, the Russian Interior Ministry said on Thursday. Russia, the second-largest market for pirated products after China, has been strongly criticized for its failure to protect intellectual property rights. Over 4,000 people were arrested in 2007, and more than 800 people in January-March this year for breaching copyright laws, said Vladimir Lukyanov, a deputy head of the ministry"s economic security department. Almost 4 million counterfeit items, mainly computer software, DVDs and CDs, worth an estimated 182 million rubles ($8 million) were seized last year, the official added. In 2007, Russia introduced a new law prohibiting the sale of pirated goods on Russian streets, kiosks and retail outlets. However, a spokesman for the economic security department, Vladimir Tsvetkov, said unlicensed CDs were now available for sale online over the Internet, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 2006, Russia was ranked in the top 10 of the world"s worst offending countries for piracy according to a report by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). The issue was a major stumbling block in Russia"s World Trade Organization accession talks with the United States. The sides eventually signed a final agreement in 2006 after Moscow promised to get tough on intellectual property violations. The problem of unlicensed software in Russia has been highlighted by the case of school principal Alexander Ponosov, charged with copyright violation after he bought a set of computers for his school containing unlicensed Microsoft software.


The deal between Moscow and Kiev on extending...

The deal between Moscow and Kiev on extending Russia"s use of the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea amounts to "military occupation," former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said on Thursday.


NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen...

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed hope on Thursday that the alliance and Russia would establish a joint missile defense system by 2020.

Around Moscow

Russia hopes that the Obama administration...

The Bush administration recalled the agreement, signed in Moscow on May 6, 2008, from the upper house of the U.S. parliament soon after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

Ryabkov told journalists in New York, where the review conference on nuclear non-proliferation is under way, that the decision by the former U.S. administration had nothing to do with the content of the agreement.

"That was a politically motivated move. We hope that the current [U.S.] administration will review this decision and resubmit the agreement to the Senate for ratification," Ryabkov, who heads the Russian delegation at the conference, said.

He described the agreement as "mutually beneficial, enlarging the agenda of Russian-U.S. relations and emphasizing the leadership of Russia and the U.S."

The agreement stipulates that Russia may supply low-enriched uranium for U.S. nuclear reactors and envisages the exchange of nuclear technologies between the

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