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PUTRAJAYA:  The Kuala Lumpur-based regional office of Consumers International is supporting Malaysia's call to be struck off the United States' watch list on copyright infringement.

Jeremy Malcolm, who coordinates the organisation's global campaign on copyright issues for consumers, criticised the US government's watch list as being unfair.

"The US watch list is very one-sided," he said in a statement yesterday.

He was commenting on a statement by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that Malaysia wanted to be off the US piracy watch list.

Malcolm said the watch list placed no weight on balance in a country's copyright system which was legally provided for under international agreements.

"Whilst, admittedly, there are issues of enforcement in relation to piracy in Malaysia, the country should take some credit for considering the needs of consumers, i.e. the end- users rather than just copyright owners."

Malcolm referred in particular to Malaysia's support at the United Nations for a new treaty recognising the needs of blind users, which the United States had, until recently, opposed.

Consumers International has published a watch list of its own last year, which ranks countries according to how well their copyright laws meet the needs of the consumers.

On this list, Malaysia is ranked 10th.

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