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 Belarus's new criminal code went into effect on July 1, 2000.

Moldova became a member of the Geneva Phonograms Convention.

Qatar joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works on July 5. 

August

 On August 17, the Australian parliament took final action on the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill 1999, designed to implement Australia's obligations under the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Venezuela introduced bills to ratify the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty on August 21.

Bhutan and Greece became parties to the Madrid Protocol, effective August 4 and 10, respectively. </ul>

September

<ul> <li>Guatemala passed new patent, copyright and trademark legislation designed to meet TRIPS requirements.</li>

<li>Italy's anti-piracy legislation with TRIPS-consistent penalties became effective.</li>

<li>Albania acceded to the WTO, and as part of this process, Albania revised its intellectual property laws to comply with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.</li>

<li>Malaysia's Optical Disc Act 2000 became effective September 15. It gives the Government of Malaysia greater enforcement powers and allows for stiffer penalties (including jail time) for the production and export of pirated optical media.</li>

<li>The "Joint Recommendation Concerning Trademark Licenses" was adopted by the 35th Session of the WIPO General Assembly and the Assembly of the Paris Union during the September 25 - October 3, 2000 meeting in Geneva.</li>

<li>Sudan joins the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.</li> </ul>

October

<ul> <li>China's Vice Premier Wu Bangguo initiated a campaign against counterfeiting to be implemented at the national, provincial and municipal levels.</li>

<li>Argentina began to issue pharmaceutical patents, for the first time, on October 24.</li> </ul>