A US organisation that aims to increase awareness and understanding of law has urged Congress to continue its efforts to stamp out online piracy by suggesting it imposes a criminal penalty for enabling infringement.
In a white paper, the IP division at the American Bar Association (ABA), said creative industries are under threat from what it calls “predatory foreign websites”.
The paper, called A Call for Action for Online Piracy and Counterfeiting Legislation, says lawmakers should create civil and criminal penalties.
It said that by creating penalties for “enabling infringement” it would “further dis-incentivise” illegal conduct.
It also claimed effective means for right holders to enforce their IP online should be introduced.
The report said: “The growth of the internet has resulted in a dramatic rise in online piracy and counterfeiting, especially by large-scale commercial enterprises engaged in lucrative unauthorised businesses”.
“The white paper stresses that new law in this area should permit US right holders to enforce existing rights and prevent the illegal use of their copyrighted works and trademarked brands regardless of whether the illegal conduct originates in the US or abroad,” the ABA said in a statement accompanying the paper’s release on July 7.
However, the white paper warned against expanding or contracting existing IP rights and restricting the growth of the internet.
Its release comes after tough new anti-piracy measures were introduced in Singapore last week.
The new measures, which TBO reported on, enable right holders to go directly to the courts to ask for a blocking order against suspect websites without the need to approach internet service providers with takedown notices.
ABA, online piracy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement
