[Ecommerce] Gonzales: The Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
QUOTE:
. Among its many provisions, the Act includes measures that would:
-- Increase the maximum penalty for counterfeiting offenses from 10
years to 20 years imprisonment where the defendant knowingly or
recklessly causes or attempts to cause serious bodily injury, and
increase the maximum penalty to life imprisonment where the defendant
knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause death;
-- Provide stronger penalties for repeat-offenders of the copyright
laws;
-- Implement broad forfeiture reforms to ensure the ability to
forfeit property derived from or used in the commission of criminal
intellectual property offenses;
-- Strengthen restitution provisions for certain intellectual
property crimes (e.g., criminal copyright and DMCA offenses);
-- Ensure that the exportation and transhipment of copyright-
infringing goods is a crime, just as the exportation of counterfeit
goods is now criminal.
END  OF QUOTE


ttp://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070514/pl_usnw/
justice_department_focuses_on_efforts_to_protect_intellectual_property_r
ights

Contact: U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007; TDD,
+1-202-514-1888

WASHINGTON, May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attorney General
Alberto R. Gonzales today highlighted the Justice Department's
ongoing efforts to protect intellectual property rights, and
announced a comprehensive legislative proposal entitled the
"Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007," before members of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy.

In addition to the proposed legislation, the Department's ongoing
commitment to combating intellectual property includes measures for
implementing valuable resources, and aggressively prosecuting
counterfeiters, each elements of the government-wide Strategy
Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP) Initiative.

Implementing Resources to Protect Intellectual Property Rights

In June 2006, the Department's Task Force on Intellectual Property
issued a Progress Report outlining its progress in implementing 31
recommendations to improve IP protection. The task force's
recommendations, and additional Department efforts include the
following:

-- An improved focus on international outreach and capacity-building
efforts. In 2006 alone, prosecutors in the Criminal Division trained
over 3,000 prosecutors, investigators, and judges from 107 countries;
established an IP Law Enforcement Coordinator for Asia in Bangkok,
Thailand; and secured funding to establish a second IPLEC position
for Eastern Europe in Sofia, Bulgaria.

-- Expansion of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP)
network of federal prosecutors dedicated to the prosecution of high-
tech and IP crime. The total number of CHIP prosecutors has increased
to 230 (with at least one in each U.S. Attorney's Office), and the
number of specialized CHIP Units has nearly doubled in the past two
years to 25 cities nationwide.

-- Focused outreach to the private sector. The Department has hosted
a series of training conferences for IP rights holders that educate
them on, among other things, the investigation and prosecution of
federal IP cases, the parameters for permissible cooperation and
assistance in federal investigations by private rights holders, and
procedures and tips for how best to report criminal violations of the
copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws. Additional conferences
are planned for 2007.

Effectively Prosecuting IP Thieves and Counterfeiters

The Department's Criminal Division, along with U.S. Attorney's
Offices across the country in the past few years, have developed a
strong record of prosecuting violators of existing IP law, which
includes:

-- Substantial increases in federal investigations and prosecutions
of IP violations, including:

-- In 2006, the Department convicted 57% more defendants of criminal
copyright and trademark offenses than in 2005;

1 -- In 2005, the Department prosecuted nearly twice as many
defendants as it had in 2004;

2 -- The
FBI arrested 40 percent more defendants in IP cases in 2006 than it
had the previous year.

-- Criminal Division prosecutors have obtained pleas or sentences in
22 separate intellectual property cases, in the last four weeks alone.

-- A number of successful operations in recent years. These include
Operation FastLink, the largest and most successful global online
piracy enforcement initiative ever conducted, which has resulted in
the execution of more than 120 searches and arrests in 12 countries,
the seizure of more than 200 computers, the complete dismantlement of
30 Internet distribution sites, and the confiscation of hundreds of
thousands of counterfeit software titles valued at more than $50
million. To date, Operation Fastlink has obtained 50 total
convictions, a milestone never before achieved in an online piracy
prosecution.

-- Other recent prosecutions by the Criminal Division have included
the first ever plea of an individual extradited from a foreign
country for online software piracy; the conviction of four men who
sold more than $19 million in counterfeit software on eBay; and the
sentencing of a Utah man to 24 months_ imprisonment for operating a
for-profit piracy website that caused up to $2.5 million in losses to
the software industry.

The Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007

Today the Department submitted to Congress the Intellectual Property
Protection Act of 2007 that would enhance the Department's ability to
prosecute crimes and protect the intellectual property rights of
citizens and industries. Among its many provisions, the Act includes
measures that would:

-- Increase the maximum penalty for counterfeiting offenses from 10
years to 20 years imprisonment where the defendant knowingly or
recklessly causes or attempts to cause serious bodily injury, and
increase the maximum penalty to life imprisonment where the defendant
knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause death;

-- Provide stronger penalties for repeat-offenders of the copyright
laws;

-- Implement broad forfeiture reforms to ensure the ability to
forfeit property derived from or used in the commission of criminal
intellectual property offenses;

-- Strengthen restitution provisions for certain intellectual
property crimes (e.g., criminal copyright and DMCA offenses);

-- Ensure that the exportation and transhipment of copyright-
infringing goods is a crime, just as the exportation of counterfeit
goods is now criminal.

Contact: U.S. Department of Justice, (202) 514-2007; TDD (202) 514-1888

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice


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Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@keionline.org,

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