Industry and Labor Canvass Capitol Hill in Support of PROTECT IP Act
Yesterday, the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP)—led by the U.S. Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center—organized a Hill blitz involving a diverse coalition of industry, labor, and public interest organization representatives, advocating for the enactment of S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act. The diversity of the participants is indicative of the support for the PROTECT IP Act. Ranging from pharmaceuticals to entertainment to labor to education, everyone shared the same sentiment: Congress must act on this critical issue.
Our broad coalition of 40+ representatives canvassed Capitol Hill to get the message out that enforcement of intellectual property rights is essential to consumer safety, American jobs, and a vibrant Internet. Thanks to the enthusiasm of our coalition, we were incredibly successful at advancing our goal of meeting nearly all 100 Senate member offices. The CACP was encouraged by the Members offices’ commitment to address the issue of online counterfeiting and piracy.
(One of our teams in Senator Wyden’s Office)
Prior to the Hill blitz, the CACP packed a Senate committee room to for a Briefing Breakfast, which highlighted the urgent need for enacting rogue sites legislation. Those in the room and on the panel all voiced their overwhelming support for the PROTECT IP Act, a necessary law enforcement tool for cutting cyber criminals and foreign rogue sites off from the U.S. market. These rogue sites need to be stopped now. Not only do these cyber criminals present a consumer safety risk, as Jeannie Salo of Eli Lilly noted, but they also severely steal the jobs of those directly and indirectly related to IP-intensive industries, as experienced by Zumba Fitness’ Jason Buratti and American Federation of Musicians’ Hal Ponder. The bottom line is that there’s absolutely no place for rogue sites in the legitimate marketplace.
The Chamber and CACP appreciate the support of the 26 Senators who have already signed onto the PROTECT IP Act, and look forward to the nearing introduction of rogue sites legislation in the House. We also would like to extend a huge thank you to all of our panelists (Rick Cotton, NBC Universal; Bruce Ghrist, Rosetta Stone; Jason Buratti, Zumba Fitness; Jeannie Salo, Eli Lilly; Tim Tardibono, CONNECT; and Hal Ponder, American Federation of Musicians) and the Blitz participants.
