Today, a broad coalition of more than 130 organizations—small, medium and large businesses, professional and labor organizations, and trade associations joined the chorus of support for the introduction and enactment of rogue sites legislation. This letter was delivered to all Members of Congress on behalf of over 80 businesses and professional and labor organizations, representing over 1.5 million jobs and workers, and over 50 trade associations representing thousands of companies. The coalition emphasizes the increasing threats of intellectual property (IP) theft over the Internet and urges Congress to protect our jobs by introducing and enacting legislation to cut off rogue websites from the American market.

Intellectual property is a key component of America’s economic growth and development and a cornerstone of our economy, from medicine, entertainment, and software, to fashion, automotive, and consumer goods and services. Likewise, the theft of IP—specifically online counterfeiting and piracy—has damaging effects on the American economy.

Alarming statistics about the harm and dangers of rogue websites have surfaced in the past month. We now know that rogue websites receive more than 53 billion visits annually and have cost the G20 economies 2.5 million jobs. It is clear that we must take swift action against the worst online IP infringers that are reaping benefits from America’s talent and hard work, endangering the health and safety of consumers, and stealing our jobs. We hope that this new show of support for rogue sites legislation will serve as a further catalyst to Congressional action this year.