WTO Case Against China Piracy "Very Possible": USTR

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could bring a World Trade Organization case against China in the next few months if Beijing does not respond to concerns the United States has raised about its protection of intellectual property rights, a U.S. official said on Wednesday

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Tim Stratford told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that Bush administration discussions of a case against China for copyright piracy were at a very advanced stage.

``If the particular concerns we are raising with the Chinese are not resolved, I think it's very possible'' the United States could take action at the WTO in coming months, he said.

``We are laying the groundwork for a case by first formally raising our concerns to them on a bilateral basis, giving them a chance to react, to address the problem,'' Stratford said.

After the hearing, Stratford told reporters that he did not want to discuss details of the specific piracy issues that the United States has raised with the Chinese.

But to have a successful case the United States must have good evidence that China is violating very specific commitments it has made to protect intellectual property rights, he said.

Widespread piracy and counterfeiting in China of American products ranging from movies and music to pharmaceuticals and auto safety glass arouses as much anger in Congress as Beijing's currency policy, which lawmakers believe is tilted to give Chinese exporters an unfair advantage.

At the hearing, Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, called the U.S. Trade Representative's office ``a paper tiger'' because it has not brought more WTO cases against Beijing.

Earlier this year, the United States, the European Union and later Canada took the first step toward a WTO case against China for tariff policies that they said discriminate against foreign auto parts suppliers.

WTO rules require trading partners to try to resolve disputes through consultations for 60 days before formally requesting a dispute settlement panel.

The 60-day consultation period ended on May 29 for the complaint brought by the United States and the EU, and will expire next week for Canada. The three trading partners are widely expected to ask for a panel at that point.

Stratford confirmed the United States has not been able to resolve the dispute through consultations, but declined to say when Washington would take the next step in the matter.

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Google Founder Lobbies for Net Neutrality

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc. (GOOG.O) co-founder and President Sergey Brin met with U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to press for legislation that would prevent Internet access providers from charging Web sites more for faster content delivery.

``The only way you can have a fast lane that is useful -- that people will pay a premium for -- is if there are slow lanes,'' Brin told reporters after meeting with Republican John McCain, a member of the Senate committee that oversees telecommunications issues.

Google, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) and other major Internet site operators have joined with small Web site owners to oppose broadband providers such as AT&T Inc. (T.N) and Verizon Communications (VZ.N) that want to offer faster network performance to companies that pay more. The issue has been dubbed ``net neutrality'' by those who oppose a two-tier system of access and pricing.

Brin acknowledged large companies such as Google would be able to cut deals with the network owners to get their content through. But he added that Google searches are only valuable if consumers can then quickly access the sites listed in the results.

``The thesis is that some content providers will pay for premium service. Why are they paying? Just because they feel charitable toward the telcos and ISPs?'' Brin asked. ``I assume they are paying because otherwise they would have worse performance, or maybe it won't really work.''

The U.S House of Representatives may vote as early as this week on a telecommunications reform bill that does not include the net neutrality protection sought by Google.

But the bill would direct the Federal Communications Commission to enforce the agency's September 2005 broadband policy statement that says consumers are entitled to access the content and applications of their choice.

Critics like Brin say these provisions do not go far enough and they hope to get stronger language in the Senate's version of a telecoms reform bill. Brin said he ``did not know where McCain will come out on the issue.''

Clad in jeans and sneakers, the billionaire Silicon Valley executive said his company is new to Washington lobbying.

Nonetheless, the seven-year-old company has found itself at the center of several political storms in recent months. It successfully battled the Justice Department to avoid handing over search records and absorbed severe congressional criticism over its business practices in China.

``Our reputation certainly suffered'' from reports that Google's Chinese site -- www.google.cn -- did not show search results on topics critical of the Chinese government, he said.

But he said only 1 percent of Chinese users use google.cn, while the majority uses the unfiltered www.google.com.

``We are not actually censoring in China,'' he added.