The US Trade Representative (USTR) has added the Russian platforms VKontakte and Avito to its annual list of piracy and counterfeit goods marketplaces.
According to US officials, since 2022, these platforms have not complied with requests from US rights holders to remove copyright-infringing materials and illegal goods.
Representatives of Avito said that the sale of copyright-infringing products on the platform is prohibited and that content is blocked when such cases are confirmed. VKontakte declined to comment on the matter. The USTR's inclusion in this list is mainly of a reputational nature and does not directly affect the companies' businesses.
The list, published since 2006, also includes other countries such as China, India and Turkey. The list is a recommendation for rights holders and a tool for combating intellectual property infringement.
