Chamber Welcomes IPEC’s Legislative Recommendations to Congress
Statement by Rob Calia, GIPC’s Senior Director for Counterfeiting and Piracy, on the IPEC’s White Paper of Legislative Recommendations
“The Chamber’s Global IP Center applauds Victoria Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, for today’s release of the Administration White Paper on Intellectual Property Enforcement Legislative Recommendations. We commend Victoria for her continued leadership and whole-heartedly support many of the recommendations she puts forth.
“We are particularly encouraged to see several of our top legislative priorities covered by the white paper, especially the issue of rogue websites. The paper makes clear that the Administration shares Congress’ commitment towards combating websites dedicated to the sale or distribution of infringing products.
“We also strongly support the white paper’s call for Congress to clarify that criminal copyright infringement through unauthorized streaming, is a felony. We know both the House and Senate are looking at this issue and encourage them to work closely with the Administration and other stakeholders to combat this growing threat.
“The White Paper also makes numerous other recommendations that will be critical in advancing our IP enforcement efforts, including authorizing Customs and Border Protection to share information about the counterfeit products with the rights holders. Furthermore, we support the IPEC’s call for strong penalties for counterfeiters and pirates, especially those who profit at the risk of our safety by peddling dangerous consumer products, such as counterfeit drugs, and those who target our war fighters and law enforcement with their phony wares. The enactment and enforcement of stronger penalties, like those proposed in the white paper, would send an important message to counterfeiters and pirates and would provide a more meaningful deterrent.
“We look forward to the opportunity to review these proposals in greater details and encourage Congress to closely examine each of these recommendations and to continue to work with the Administration and other stakeholder to help make the U.S. a miserable place for counterfeiters and pirates.”
