This week, CFIF joined dozens of employers, entrepreneurs and groups spanning the political spectrum on Capitol Hill to ask Congress to help put a stop to online theft by rogue websites that steal jobs and cost American businesses $135 billion annually. In this era it is rare to find an issue that achieves almost complete consensus among ideologies and interest groups, but this is one.
Rogue websites steal intellectual property (IP) through counterfeiting, knockoff goods, piracy and misappropriation of movies, music, books and software. Such thieves don’t pay taxes, they don’t follow American laws, they cut into American exports at a time of enormous trade deficits and they cut into our jobs and earnings. Astoundingly, such sites constitute approximately 25% of all Internet traffic (53 billion visits per year), deceive honest customers, spread malware and even threaten lives and health with counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Simply put, there is no justification or defense whatsoever for rogue websites. So what to do?
Well, on May 12, 2011 Senators Orrin Hatch (R – Utah), Chuck Grassley (R – Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D – Vermont) along with nine other original co-sponsors introduced S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act. That legislation would at long last halt rogue site access to the American market and help secure the fundamental rule of law. Because many rogue sites operate outside our borders, the Act would allow the Department of Justice or private individuals to obtain court orders halting search engine connections to sites proven through due process to be “dedicated to infringing activity.” The Act would also require payment processors and online advertising networks to discontinue payments to rogue sites.
Chances are that you or others close to you are impacted by rogue websites causing inestimable damage to U.S. jobs and prosperity. We can help put a stop to that travesty by supporting the PROTECT IP Act and asking our Senators and Representatives to do the same.
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