U.S. Senators Urge FTC to Act on IT Theft

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators today issued a press release regarding a joint letter they sent calling on the Federal Trade commission to promote American jobs and manufacturing competitiveness by working with state Attorneys General to "fight the growing problem of theft and use of stolen information technology (IT) and intellectual property (IP) by foreign manufacturers."

The release notes, "on November 4, 2011, the National Association of Attorneys General sent a letter to the FTC Commissioners on behalf of 39 states and 3 U.S. territories, requesting they use their concurrent jurisdiction and the tools at their disposal to combat this burgeoning problem.

The Senators' letter asked the FTC to consider the request made by the state Attorneys General to ensure a level the playing field for law-abiding manufacturers."

This is in line with sentiments by the voters of California. A recent analysis from Pollster Dave Metz, partner of Fairbank, Maullin, Metz and Associates, indicated, "the vast majority of California voters support a legislative crackdown on information-technology piracy, based on their desire
to prevent economic damage and job loss in California."

In an opinion-editorial, titled "Software piracy damages businesses, economy as a whole," Metz recently discussed the fact that "voters think the consequences of software piracy go well beyond the technology industry, impacting many other businesses and the economy as a whole."

"A striking 84 percent of those we surveyed believe California loses jobs to non-American companies using stolen technology."

Metz's opinion piece continued to explain "those surveyed believe companies have the right to protect themselves from theft and virtually all of them believe that laws should protect against software piracy."

"This is a clear indication that voters would look favorable on state policy makers who protect the economy and jobs by supporting legislation to prevent the use and proliferation of stolen information technology products...In fact, the survey shows that 88 percent of voters support enacting a law requiring state agencies and their contractors to use only legally licensed software products. Voters of all demographic groups, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or party registration want to ensure that state government and its contractors do no use stolen software."

 

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