The United States has placed China's top internet search engine, Baidu, on its list of so-called "notorious markets" that sell illegally copied or counterfeit goods.
The United States Trade Representative’s Office says Baidu sends users to pirated material by engaging in what it calls “deep linking”.
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The Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Intellectual Property and Innovation, Stanford McCoy, described “deep linking” as providing direct links to infringing content that is often stored on third-party host sites.
He said this allows Baidu to profit by providing “direct links to the infringing content with surrounding advertising that businesses have paid Baidu to provide."
Baidu spokesman Kaiser Kuo declined to comment on the matter when contacted by VOA.
Other websites on the U.S. list include China's 91.com, Swedish-based ThePirateBay, IsoHunt in Canada and Russian-based Rutracker.
