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AGs Hood & McKenna Release Statement on Rogue Sites Legislation
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**Vicksburg Daily News obtained a copy of the letter that was addressed to Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Chuck Grassley, Representative John Conyers and Representative Lamar Smith. We have included the text of the letter below.
Dear Senators and Congressmen: We write to commend you for your attention to the serious issue of the counterfeiting and piracy of U.S. products occurring on rogue websites, and to ask for your legislative support in addressing these extremely harmful activities. Today, enforcement against theft of intellectual property (IP) is more important than ever. The activities of infringers and counterfeiters are estimated to cost the global economy $650 billion each year and have robbed 2.5 million jobs from the G20 economies. Moreover, counterfeit products are often of inferior quality or outright harmful design, which poses a serious and very real threat to the health, safety and wellbeing of our citizens. While counterfeiting and piracy are not new, the proliferation and extent of these activities is unprecedented. Criminals have turned to the Internet, abusing its virtually unlimited distribution opportunities, to expand their illicit activities and profits. With the Internet, these criminals have access not just to all of the 50 states, but also to the territories, such as Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. And they are succeeding; a recent study found that just a small sample of 43 rogue sites generated over 53 billion visits a year. A growing number of rogue websites are based overseas, presenting law enforcement with unique enforcement challenges. We are therefore extremely pleased that in Washington, D.C., both the House and Senate have turned their attention to this major problem. Legislation is needed to disrupt the counterfeiting and pirate business model by cutting those sites off from the American marketplace. This narrowly tailored response to clearly illegal activity would enable effective action against the worst of the worst counterfeiters and pirates online. We urge Congress to make the introduction and enactment of rogue site legislation a top priority this year. On behalf of all of us and the citizens of our respective states, we thank you for your leadership on this important issue. Respectfully, Jim Hood Attorney General of Mississippi NAAG Intellectual Property Committee Co-Chair Rob McKenna Attorney General of Washington NAAG Intellectual Property Committee Co-Chair Roy Cooper Attorney General of North Carolina NAAG President Luther Stranger Attorney General of Alabama John J. Burns Attorney General of Alaska Fepulea’i Arthur Ripley, Jr. Attorney General of American Samoa Tom Horne Attorney General of Arizona Dustin McDaniel Attorney General of Arkansas John Suthers Attorney General of Colorado George Jepsen Attorney General of Connecticut Joseph R. Biden, III Attorney General of Delaware Pamela Bondi Attorney General of Florida Samuel S. Olens Attorney General of Georgia Leonardo M. Rapadas Attorney General of Guam David M. Louie Attorney General of Hawaii Lawrence G. Wasden Attorney General of Idaho Tom Miller Attorney General of Iowa Derek L. Schmidt Attorney General of Kansas John Conway Attorney General of Kentucky James D. “Buddy” Caldwell Attorney General of Louisiana William J. Schneider Attorney General of Maine Douglas F. Gansler Attorney General of Maryland Bill Schuette Attorney General of Michigan Lori Swanson Attorney General of Minnesota Catherine Cortez Masto Attorney General of Nevada Michael A. Delaney Attorney General of New Hampshire Gary King Attorney General of New Mexico Wayne Stenehjem Attorney General of North Dakota E. Scott Pruitt Attorney General of Oklahoma Peter F. Kilmartin Attorney General of Rhode Island Alan Wilson Attorney General of South Carolina Robert E. Cooper, Jr. Attorney General of Tennessee Greg Abbott Attorney General of Texas Mark L. Shurtleff Attorney General of Utah Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II Attorney General of Virginia Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. Attorney General of West Virginia Gregory A. Phillips Attorney General of Wyoming]]]]> ]]>
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