The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing today on rogue websites called “Targeting Websites Dedicated To Stealing American Intellectual Property.” Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) invited Verizon, Go Daddy, Visa, Rosetta Stone and The Authors Guild and others in the online community to appear to give their views about legislation he is preparing to reintroduce in the Senate this year. Kudos to the companies listed above for showing up.
As you might already know, bi-partisan legislation to combat rogue websites was introduced last Congress. S. 3804 would have provided the U.S. Department of Justice with additional tools to go after the worst rogue Internet websites dedicated to distributing counterfeit goods and/or facilitating copyright theft. We believe this legislation is a critically important step to help address a problem that adversely impacts so many industries. Last Congress, rogue sites legislation was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) received unanimous bipartisan support and passed out of committee with a 19-0 vote.
Support for rogue sites legislations continues to broaden. Yesterday, a coalition of over 130 businesses, professional, trade, and labor organizations— representing over 1.5 million jobs and workers—sent a letter to Congress urging for the enactment of the bill. The Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy recently launched the effort “Fight Online Theft” to further the campaign against rogue websites. Be sure to check out www.fighonlinetheft.com for latest information on this important legislation and how to take action against rogue websites.
The general consensus at the hearing was that something must be done to protect American jobs and our economy and safety against these illegal rogue websites. We agree! We are encouraging the Members of Congress to introduce a similar bill this new session. Take action HERE.