Anti-piracy caucus issues watch list

Washington -- The U.S. Congress' International Anti-Piracy Caucus released its annual "watch list" of countries where intellectual property rights are seriously threatened.

The IAPC list's top five offenders included four that were on a similar list released recently by the U.S. Trade Representative -- China, Russia, Malaysia and Mexico, Variety said Friday.

The caucus' list, however, named Canada, an inclusion that drew praise from the movie industry, which has complained about the growth of illegal camcording in movie theaters in the country north of the United States.

The Motion Picture Association of America said it welcomed the latest watch list and praised the IAPC for promising to "closely monitor developments in the five countries."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.