About Intellectual Property Theft

Think about it - would you knowingly give your bank account information to a criminal? Or how about take “prescription drugs” from an illegal dealer?
If you shop on a rogue website, that is exactly what you are doing.

With the growth of the internet, rogue sites—those websites dedicated to the sale and distribution of counterfeit and pirated products—have come onto the scene like gangbusters, and with them, so has the theft of intellectual property (IP) online. These rogue websites cost American jobs by counterfeiting products and pirating content such as books and software. They put innocent consumers at risk by selling fake, unsafe products such as pharmaceuticals. And they cause other serious issues such as identify theft and the spreading of malicious viruses onto computers.

Consumers are lured to sophisticated and well-designed websites, complete with corporate advertising, credit card acceptance, and similar indicia of legitimacy. However, these sites are devoted to offering or linking to unauthorized downloads or streaming of copyrighted material—including the latest movie and music hits—or to trafficking in counterfeit products, from pharmaceuticals to luxury goods.

The bottom line is: online counterfeiting and piracy is theft, plain and simple, and if left unchecked, it will have detrimental effects on our economy and our safety. Consumers are protected from this when they walk into a store. Shouldn’t they also be protected while shopping online?

Facts About Rogue Websites

Studies have shown the implications and consequences of rogue websites distributing their illicit goods and illegal content to consumers. This global phenomenon not only damages long-term economic growth, but also hurts millions of individuals employed in the American economy.

Because criminals can quickly and easily set up e-commerce storefronts, with minor expense and relative anonymity, sales of counterfeit physical goods thrives on the Internet. Brand-protection firm MarkMonitor estimates that rogue websites cost legitimate businesses of all sizes $135 billion in lost revenue annually. (MarkMonitor, 2008 Year in Review)

In January 2011, MarkMonitor released a study that shows the rampancy of online distribution of pirated digital content and e-commerce sales of counterfeit goods. The study identified some, but certainly not all, rogue sites, analyzed the traffic to those sites and found the following:

·         The combined traffic to just 26 sites selling counterfeit prescription drugs is more than 141,000 visits per day on average or more than 51 million visits per year.
·         The combined traffic to a separate sample of 48 sites selling counterfeit consumer goods is more than 240,000 visits per day on average or more than 87 million visits per year.
·         Traffic generated to 43 sites engaged in digital piracy was more than 146 million visits per day, representing more than 53 billion visits per year. That averages about 9 visits for every man, woman, and child on Earth.

Facts About IP

Intellectual property is a huge job-producing sector of the American economy. A study conducted by Dr. Nam Pham of NDP Consulting, Employment and Gross Output of IP Companies in the United States, utilizes government data to estimate direct and indirect IP employment and gross output for IP companies in the Unites States.The study makes the following conclusions:

·       Based on the latest U.S. official data from 2008, IP companies in manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors employed slightly more than 19 million full- and part-time workers and accounted for 16.3% of U.S. full- and part-time employment.
·       In 2008, IP companies in the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors generated nearly $7.7 trillion in gross output, accounting for 33.1% of total U.S. gross output.
·       IP companies in the manufacturing sector alone generated $3.9 trillion in output, constituting 75.2% of total U.S. manufacturing output. Those in the nonmanufacturing sector generated $3.7 trillion in output, accounting for 20.8% of U.S. nonmanufacturing gross output.