There is hope that enforcement of the new law will significantly reduce these levels. According to the U.S. software industry, enforcement in Venezuela continues to be very problematic, due in part to the law as it is written and also to fears that court proceedings will not yield fair results. Thus, settlements are often sought to avoid lengthy and costly proceedings whose results are uncertain. According to the U.S. motion picture industry, while Venezuela's 1993 Copyright law significantly improved intellectual property protection and enhanced penalties for copyright infringement, implementing regulations have not yet been approved. Video piracy reportedly has increased dramatically due to the unsteady economic environment.
Foreign investment continues to be restricted in a number of areas.
Since the imposition of foreign exchange controls, repatriation of capital has been difficult, due to problems in establishing and implementing procedures. Foreign equity participation is limited to 20 percent in television, radio, Spanish language newspapers and the professional services subject to national licensing legislation. Banking restrictions, on the other hand, have been largely removed. Finally, foreign employees are restricted to 10 percent of the work force and Venezuelan law limits foreign employee salaries to 20 percent of the white collar payroll. Under this provision, Venezuela approved three joint ventures in 1993 involving private investment in heavy crudes and natural gas.