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MEDIA ADVISORY
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Mike Wendy
June 22, 2010
(202) 969-2957
   
PFF's Sydnor Hails US Joint Strategic Plan to Protect IP
Enforcement Coordinator Espinel Produces Comprehensive, Focused Strategy

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel released the 2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. The following statement can be attributed to Thomas D. Sydnor II, Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property and Senior Fellow at The Progress & Freedom Foundation:

This Joint Strategic Plan confirms the wisdom of the President's decision to nominate someone as experienced as Ms. Victoria Espinel as his Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). The Joint Strategic Plan is thorough and comprehensive, reflecting careful thought on allocating finite federal resources on the most pressing challenges—such as illegal counterfeiting and piracy—facing Americans whose creativity has made this country the world's leading net exporter of a vast array of expressive works, trusted brands, and productive innovations.
Two aspects of the Joint Strategic Plan are particularly impressive:
First, I commend the IPEC for recognizing the importance of domestic efforts and international cooperation to put a stop to international web sites that lead international trafficking in counterfeited goods and pirated works.
Second, I also commend the IPEC for renewing federal efforts to assess the economic costs that counterfeiting imposes on the U.S. economy. I am gratified to see that the IPEC—as I proposed in my new paper—does not propose that an assessment of those costs must be offset by "positive economic effects" that counterfeiting, piracy or other forms of criminal racketeering can confer upon criminals and their associates.

Thomas Sydnor is available for interviews. Please contact Mike Wendy at mwendy@pff.org for more information.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.

 

 

The Progress & Freedom Foundation