New Delhi:
The United States has named New Delhi's popular Nehru Place as among the world's notorious markets for pirated and counterfeited products including software.
'Notorious Markets List' prepared by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has named more than 30 Internet and physical markets that are trading in pirated products.
"Nehru Place is reportedly one of the many markets in major cities throughout India that are known for dealing in large volumes of pirated software, optical media and counterfeit goods," the USTR report released on Monday said.
The list also includes China's popular website Baidu, Silk Market in Beijing, Pakistan's Urdu Bazaars and Thailand's Red Zones shopping areas.
The 'Notorious Markets List' identifies selected markets, including those in the Internet, that show market places which are "helping to sustain global piracy and counterfeiting", according to the USTR.
Counterfeiting and piracy activities are causing losses worth billions of dollars to the global economy. Going by various studies, India has a high level of piracy in various segments including software.
A recent study projected that the value of counterfeit and pirated products sold worldwide is expected to grow to as high as USD 1.78 trillion by 2015.
About Baidu, the report noted the website provides users with links to online locations that contain allegedly infringing materials.
The list also includes numerous examples of websites involved in BitTorrent tracking and indexing, which facilitate the high speed transfer of infringing materials between users.
There are also Internet markets involved in specific activities such as piracy of sports telecasts, Smartphone software and physical products, USTR said.
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said these notorious markets not only hurt American workers and businesses, but are threats to entrepreneurs and industries worldwide.