Venezuela among countries with high "piracy" levels

Venezuela is among the 12 countries included in the priority watch list of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) violations, according to a report of the United States Department of Commerce.

The study -which is known as 301 Report- kept Venezuela on the "black list" one more year. "Venezuela remains on the priority watch list. The protection and execution of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) were jeopardized again in 2010," according to the report.

The report also explained that the "reinstatement" of the 1955 Industrial Property Law, after Venezuela withdrew from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), "suppressed" protections for inventions and creations that were patentable while the country abode by the CAN legal framework in this matter.

In fact, two years after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced that his country would pull out from the CAN, the Autonomous Service of Intellectual Property (SAPI) issued a press release reinstating the 1955 Industrial Property Law, to the detriment of the Decision 486 of the Andean body.

The report also stressed that copyright and Internet piracy "are still widespread."

The "black list" is headed by China and Venezuela, which is the only Latin American country, along with Argentina and Chile, in the ranking.

The 301 Report also highlighted some positive aspects, such as the approval of the Law against Crime and Smuggling in 2010, "which imposes sanctions and provides for the confiscation of assets," in cases of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) violations. Source: http://www.eluniversal.com

Venezuela Wins Again! Miss Universe 2009

NASSAU, Bahamas — Miss Venezuela was the fairest of them all, again.Venezuelan Stefania Fernandez won the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas on Sunday night.Dressed in a flowing red gown, Fernandez embraced runner up Miss Dominican Republic as the announcement was made, and received the crown from last year's winner, Dayana Mendoza, of Venezuela. The sparkling tiara fell to the floor at one point, as Fernandez danced in joy.

Venezuela, a beauty-obsessed South American country, has won the Miss Universe pageant six times.During a question-and-answer segment with the five top finalists, Fernandez said she believed women have overcome obstacles such as hitting the proverbial glass ceiling."I feel we have reached the level that men are at," she said.The other top-five finalists were runner-up Ada Aimee de la Cruz, followed by Miss Kosovo, Droga Ganusha; Miss Australia, Rachael Finch; and Miss Puerto Rico, Mayra Matos Perez.The top 15 finalists appeared in bathing suits before the final 10 were chosen for the evening gown segment.

Pageant co-owner Donald Trump told reporters, "I think this is the most beautiful group of women I've ever seen."The televised event includes musical performances by Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland.Montag gave her first live performance, singing "Body Language" from her debut album.Fans cheered on the blond star of MTV's "The Hills," although NBC, which is broadcasting the event in the Bahamas live, blocked out more than half of her performance as they introduced the 15 finalists.

"It's my first performance live and it's in front of a billion eyes. So I'm very excited to show everyone what I'm coming with," said Montag before her performance.Hosts were Billy Bush, co-anchor of " Access Hollywood," and Claudia Jordan, a former Miss Rhode Island USA who has appeared on several TV shows. Judges included actor Dean Cain and supermodel Valeria Mazza.Miss China, Wang Jingyao, was named Miss Congeniality and Miss Thailand, Chutima Durongdej, won Miss Photogenic.

Many contestants have suffered from dehydration in recent weeks, and Jewel Selver, Miss Turks and Caicos, went home Saturday to recuperate, said Esther Swan, Miss Universe spokeswoman.

The Los Angeles Times