Some key updates from the USTR’s 2024 report on Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy, published in January relating to Vietnam:
Saigon Square Shopping Mall (Ho Chi Minh City). This market remains a hub for counterfeit luxury goods such as handbags, wallets, and watches. While authorities conduct enforcement actions, penalties remain low, and counterfeit sales increasingly shift online.
Piracy enforcement milestone. The Hanoi Police, with support from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, DOJ ICHIP, and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), shut down Fmovies, a major global piracy site with over 6.7 billion visits between January 2023 and June 2024.
First criminal copyright case. Vietnam saw its first criminal conviction for copyright infringement. The operator of BestBuyIPTV received a suspended sentence and financial penalties.
Piracy-as-a-service. Platforms like Vietnam-based 2embed continue to enable others to distribute infringing content globally.
HiAnime is a pirate anime content site a successor to several sites previously shut down by authorities and Japanese rights owners, but located in Vietnam.
The mix of good results and continued focus by the government shows how Vietnam is addressing its piracy problems.
Meanwhile a major government reshuffle is underway, to reduce ministries to 14 and merging several agencies and expected to be finalized in February 2025. While details are still unclear, the transition period has raised uncertainty about enforcement authorities and hesitance so could impact anti piracy enforcement in the short term.
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