US Ambassador Condemns but Admits to Internet Piracy

Diplomacy | December 6, 2011, Tuesday // 13:42|  views

The US Ambassador to Bulgaria, James Warlick, participated in a conference focusing on encouraging business in the digital environment. Photo by BGNES

The US Ambassador to Bulgaria, James Warlick, admitted to having violated copyright laws by downloading from the internet, but insisted this does not make such activities the right thing to do.

Warlick participated Tuesday in a conference focusing on encouraging business in the digital environment.

At the forum, the US Ambassador said that over the years people have witnessed infringement of intellectual property rights on the internet all over the world.

"I bet there are people among the participants here who had downloaded music and movies from pirate sites. This is understandable and I have also broken the law in this respect, but I know that is not right," he told the conference.

After making the confession, the diplomat indicated that there are now websites that are extremely popular in Bulgaria such as zamunda.net or arenabg.com.

"In fact, these sites represent theft from successful Bulgarian artists and films. To go online and download for free such a wonderful film is like going in a jewelry store, taking some jewelry and slipping it in your pocket. This is the same," the Ambassador explained, but stressed copyrights and intellectual property rights are already being protected in Bulgaria.

Todor Chobanov, Economic Advisor to the Economy Minister for cultural tourism said that in certain parts of Europe nearly 90% of trade is done online. He stated that it is a fact that the internet is becoming more and more the main purchase place for consumers.

Chobanov informed that over 50% of Bulgarian households have access to the global network and more of them are looking to shop there.

The Adviser to Minister Traikov pointed out that internet marketing is very important for tourism.

"Almost 9 out of 10 decisions about choosing a holiday destination are made through the internet. Bulgaria as a tourist country and should focus its efforts in this direction," said Chobanov.

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Tags: US Ambassador, James Warlick, conference, digital environment, intellectual property rights, copyrights, Internet, piracy, pirate sites, Todor Chobanov, tourism

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