27 July 1999
Source: http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=99072601.clt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

USIS Washington File
_________________________________

26 July 1999

### Justice Initiative to Combat Intellectual Property Piracy

    (Justice pledges increased investigations, training) (1190)

    The U.S. Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and
    Customs Service have established a new law enforcement initiative
    aimed at battling the growing challenge of piracy and counterfeiting
    of intellectual property, according to a Justice Department
    announcement.

    The initiative will include enhanced enforcement efforts nationwide,
    and greater support for training, technical assistance and greater
    intelligence gathering worldwide, the department said July 23. The
    initiative was announced by Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder in San
    Jose, California, but a text was made available in Washington.

    The intellectual property rights initiative will include greater
    assistance to U.S. agencies from the Justice Department, FBI and
    Customs Service, the department said. It will also include efforts to
    assist "U.S. trading partners that have robust intellectual property
    laws, face serious piracy and counterfeiting problems and are
    committed to dedicating resources to tackle the problem."

    "We are here to send the message that those who steal our intellectual
    property will be prosecuted," Holder said.

    Following are terms and acronyms used in the text:

    -- IP: intellectual property.

    -- billion: 1,000 million.

    Following is the text of the Justice Department announcement:

    (begin text)

    [U.S. Departments of Justice and the Treasury

    Washington, D.C.

    July 23, 1999]

    JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, FBI AND CUSTOMS SERVICE
    TO COMBAT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CRIME

    U.S. Law Enforcement Will Target High Tech Corridors
    to Fight Piracy and Counterfeiting Surge

    San Jose, Calif. -- The Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of
    Investigation, and the U.S. Customs service today announced the
    establishment of a law enforcement initiative aimed at combating the
    growing challenge of piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual
    property, both domestically and internationally. The initiative
    initially will target the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, South
    Florida, the high tech corridors of California and the Boston
    metropolitan area. Each of the targeted areas have port cities, where
    piracy and counterfeiting problems are most serious.

    Domestically, United States Attorneys, the FBI, and the U.S. Customs
    Service have agreed to increase their enforcement efforts nationwide,
    with particular emphasis in seven target districts. Internationally,
    the initiative pledges support from the Justice, Department, including
    the FBI, for existing efforts of the State Department, Customs
    Service, and trade agencies with specialized expertise in intellectual
    property issues -- the (Office of the) U.S. Trade Representative,
    Department of Commerce's Patent & Trademark Office, and the Copyright
    Office -- to enhance their technical assistance capabilities and
    training priorities. The initiative also pledges the key federal law
    enforcement agencies to assist U.S. trading partners that have robust
    intellectual property laws, face serious piracy and counterfeiting
    problems, and are committed to dedicating resources to tackle the
    problem.

    Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., announced the initiative
    today in San Jose, along with FBI Assistant Director, Criminal
    Investigative Division, Thomas J. Pickard; Sam Banks, Deputy
    Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service; United States Attorney
    Robert S. Mueller, III from the Northern District of California; and
    United States Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas from the Central District of
    California.

    "At the same time that our information economy is scaring, so is
    intellectual property theft," said Holder. "We are here to send the
    message that those who steal our intellectual property will be
    prosecuted. This is theft, pure and simple."

    Key components of the Intellectual Property Rights Initiative include:

    -- Increasing the priority of criminal IP investigations and
    prosecutions in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the
    District of New Jersey, the Northern and Central Districts of
    California (including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and
    Silicon Valley), the Southern District of Florida (including Miami),
    and the District of Massachusetts (including the Boston metropolitan
    area);

    -- Increasing specialized training courses for investigators and
    prosecutors at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, S.C., the FBI
    Academy in Quantico, Va., the Customs Service Academy at the Federal
    Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., the International Law
    Enforcement Academies in Budapest, Hungary, and Bangkok, Thailand, and
    developing training programs for state and local officials in
    conjunction with the National Cybercrime Training Partnership;

    -- Seeking referrals from industry through a streamlined system;

    -- Utilizing procedures for forfeiture of infringing merchandise as an
    additional tool to get illegal product off the streets;

    -- Continuing support for increased criminal penalties for
    infringement through efforts directed at amending the Sentencing
    Guidelines;

    -- Highlighting U.S. trade priorities in international law enforcement
    anti-piracy efforts, including the prioritization of key countries for
    U.S. training and technical assistance.

    The FBI has elevated intellectual property crime to one of its white
    collar crime priorities. "Intellectual property criminals are
    organized, well-funded, and use the tools of the Internet and modern
    telecommunications to steal the product of our labors," Pickard said.
    "To effectively protect the creativity and ingenuity of our citizens,
    and the trade secrets they develop through research and development,
    we need to outmatch the criminals. That means integrating our federal
    resources with the resources of domestic industries that enjoy legal
    protection under intellectual property laws."

    The U.S. Customs Service has asked Congress to fund an effort to
    collect, analyze and disseminate domestic and world-wide intelligence
    on the new patterns in intellectual property crime.

    "The Customs Service and other law enforcement and intelligence
    sources are concerned about the increasing involvement of organized
    criminal gangs in high-volume counterfeiting," said Sam Banks, Deputy
    Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service. "We are seizing record
    amounts of counterfeit products such as software, music, videos, and
    clothing. This is why a more focused, coordinated approach is
    necessary to enhance our ability to identify and apprehend those
    engaging in criminal activity which cuts at the core of American
    business and ingenuity."

    The U.S. Customs Service protects American industry and ingenuity by
    vigorous enforcement of intellectual property laws and interdicting of
    illegally-copied goods. FY-1998 was a record-breaking year for the
    U.S. Customs Service in enforcing intellectual property rights laws,
    with seizures of nearly $76 million.

    The combined copyright and trademark industries, according to figures
    released by the Department of Commerce in June, represent the second
    fastest growing sector of the U. S. economy behind Internet-related
    electronic commerce. An economic study released last month by the
    Business Software Alliance (BSA) reported that, in 1998, the software
    industry alone generated employment for 2.7 million Americans,
    generating $28.2 billion in income tax revenue. Both the copyright and
    trademark industries have cited increased infringement both
    domestically and abroad, particularly Internet-facilitated piracy and
    the online distribution of counterfeit products, as presenting a
    significant threat to increased growth in this vital economic area.
    The BSA study also concluded that software piracy cost the U.S.
    109,000 jobs and $991 million in tax revenue in 1998.

    The initiative will also call upon U.S. industry to reaffirm its
    support for law enforcement efforts in the IP area by referring
    matters for investigation and prosecution, particularly those which
    involve threats to public health and safety, offenses believed to be
    committed by organized criminal syndicates, and other high volume or
    consequential intellectual property crimes.

    For more information about efforts to fight computer and intellectual
    property crime, see www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime.

    (end text)

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