The video game industry singled out Malaysia and China as among the worst havens for piracy in this year's 'Special 301' filing submitted to the US Trade Representative by the association representing computer and video game publishers.

Also, during 2004, increases in commercial "burning" of pirated entertainment software contributed to high piracy rates in Brazil (74 per cent), India (86 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (68 per cent), the report said.

The purpose of the report is to underscore areas of concern about market access and high piracy rates, which, the association said, exist in some countries at levels at or in excess of 90 per cent.

"Despite efforts by the US government over the years, it's deja vu, as these countries continue to skirt their global obligations to protect intellectual property," said Doug Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, the US trade association representing computer and video game publishers.

"We hope that this year's report will prompt the US to crack down even further. Our industry makes substantial contributions to the US economy, but piracy closes off promising markets, artificially limiting our industry's ability to contribute even more economic growth to the American high-tech economy," he added.

The annual report of the International Intellectual Property Alliance identifies many forms of commercial piracy, including factory production of optical discs (such as CDs and DVDs); CD-R and DVD-R 'burning'; Internet downloading and file trading.

The report also said:

• Syndicates operating in Malaysia remain the world's number one manufacturer and exporter of factory-produced, pirated optical disc product. Exports of these pirated goods were seized in over 20 countries, throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, South Africa, and even the U.S.
• In China, while the industry seeks to capitalise on the growing popularity of online games, it must endure several problems, including retail piracy rates upward of 90 per cent on hard goods products for the PC and handheld devices, unlicensed Internet cafés using pirated product and unauthorised servers for online games. US publishers also face an arduous content review process that often takes several months to complete, giving pirates an exclusive distribution window for freshly pirated product that has not gone through such reviews.
• China also remains the world's centre for production of counterfeit cartridge-based product. Ongoing investigations by ESA members have turned up millions of infringing items in seizures conducted in 2004.

Under the 'Special 301' trade law, the US Trade Representative can impose trade sanctions following an investigation and consultation period.