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Coalition presses Congress on counterfeiting, privacy |
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By Ilan Wurman and Lisa Chapman
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Posted: 06/15/07 07:43 PM [ET] |
A large coalition of business and industry associations launched a campaign Thursday to spur congressional action on counterfeiting and piracy.
The Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP) announced at a press conference several initiatives that it will urge members of Congress to act on, including proposals to give more resources to the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security; increase border protection; strengthen criminal penalties for piracy; and increase cooperation with foreign governments.
“Intellectual property theft represents a pernicious epidemic of global crime that threatens to undermine our future economic growth and security,” said Rick Cotton, chairman of the CACP. “If we want to be effective, we must … make commitments of dedicated and technologically sophisticated law enforcement resources at all levels of government.
“The CACP’s report is an excellent set of proposals in this direction,” he added.
CACP is also calling on consumers to learn about this growing threat, and it wants the federal government to disseminate the message that counterfeiting not only costs American jobs and competitiveness, but also threatens public health and safety.
Keavin Blount, who spoke at the press conference, said he lost his mother to counterfeit prescription drugs.
“We are seeing this increase around the world,” said Chris Singer, executive vice president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. “Millions of people unfortunately are experiencing the same thing Keavin's mother experienced.”
The president and chief executive officers from the Motion Picture Association of America, Recording Industry Association of America and National Association of Manufactures also spoke at the conference.
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