Since 2006, the members of the
International Intellectual Property Alliance in conjunction with the
Office of the United States Trade Representative has annually filed a list of Notorious Markets as a part of their
Special 301 Report to the
U.S. federal government. It lists virtual markets (websites) and physical markets outside of the US where large scale
copyright infringement takes place and recommends trade sanctions for countries with weak copyright protection enforcement. Since 2010 the list is separately issued as a part of an out-of-cycle review between the main report submissions. Whilst the list of markets does not directly form national trade policy, the report says "The United States encourages the responsible authorities to step up efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets." ==List creation process==