The head of the trade section of the European Commission's delegation to Ukraine explained that the country risks damaging relations with the European Union due to Internet piracy. The EU suggests that Internet service providers must bear responsibility for hosting pirate portals, along with operators of such resources.

It turned out that Ukraine falls behind the EU rules when it comes to online piracy – the country is known for hosting a wide range of prominent websites over the years, including The Pirate Bay and us. Of course, the US widely criticized Ukraine for its lax approach – especially the United States Trade Representative, which always brands the country as a piracy haven. Now the trade section of the European Commission’s delegation to Ukraine outlined the areas where Ukraine needs to improve. They want Ukraine to take a firmer line with those already present in the country, in particular those playing host to pirate websites (i.e. ISPs). This would have been possible under recent draft legislation, but the latter was vetoed by the President and never put into place.

At the same time, Ukraine is known for taking actions against some pirate heavens – for example, the local police acted on a complaint from the MPAA to close down FS.to, where 60 servers were seized and 19 people arrested. However, the EU claims that more needs to be done, since Ukraine is not fulfilling its obligations under the Association Agreement by neglecting IP rights and thus can damage relationships with the EU.

Aside from the EU claims, Ukraine also faces complaints from the USTR, which keeps the country on its Priority List.

Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.