At a town hall meeting in Ohio, President Obama talked about the importance of protecting our nation’s intellectual property. The President stated that “one of the problems that we have had is insufficient protection for intellectual property rights” and that in order to build our economy and grow jobs, it is important to protect our creative works. Vice President Biden echoes the President’s sentiments by saying, “Piracy is theft, clean and simple. It’s nothing but theft. It’s smash and grab… We’re going after the people. We’re going after the web sites.”
The President has taken protecting intellectual property so seriously that he appointed Victoria Espinel as our nation’s first U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (USIPEC). Ms. Espinel is working on behalf of creators to coordinate the work of the federal agencies that are involved with stopping infringement. She says to “those who are suffering from infringement, help is on the way. We understand the problems that you face, and we will work to make things better… For those of you who have for too long abused the rights of America’s creators, I have a warning for you – we are committed to putting you out of business.”
White House Updates:
- January 2011: Vice President Biden and Victoria Espinel called a meeting of corporate and non-profit entities that are working to forge voluntary agreements to protect consumers from fraud, piracy and counterfeit goods online. Read more here.
- February 2011: The Obama Administration issued an Executive Order establishing two Advisory Committees on Intellectual Property Enforcement. The new committees will assist the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator in implementing the Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement, and will ensure that all of the Administration Agencies and Departments affected by intellectual property infringement are represented and involved in addressing these issues. To read more, click here.
- March 2011: The USIPEC Office released a white paper on legislative recommendations for U.S. intellectual property enforcement. Among other recommendations, the IPEC notes that online piracy and counterfeiting are significant concerns for the Administration, and welcomes Congress’ attention to the issue of combating foreign rogue websites. To read the paper, click here.
- June 2011: The IPEC Office released a one year anniversary report, reviewing the year’s progress to meet goals put forth in the initial Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement. Read the report here.
- For more detailed information about the ongoing work of the IPEC office, read the IPEC Spotlight reports: February/March 2011, April/May/June 2011, July/August 2011
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