White House Releases Historic Joint Strategic Plan to Enforce Intellectual Property Rights

First Report of Its Kind from the New Office of the US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Is a Welcome Development for Rights Holders in the Software Industry

WASHINGTON, June 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Business Software Alliance (BSA) today praised the Obama administration for developing the country's first joint strategic plan to enforce intellectual property rights. Announced today by Vice President Joe Biden and US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel, the strategy marshals the collective knowledge and expertise of all federal agencies charged with enforcing IP rights, committing them to common goals so government can combat domestic and international infringement of software and other copyrighted products more efficiently and effectively. This is vital in encouraging the private investments in research and development that drive technological and economic progress in the digital era.

Joining Vice President Biden and US IPEC Espinel for the release of the strategy were Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

"Intellectual property theft costs the software industry more than $50 billion a year," said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman. "Since 60 cents of every dollar spent on software globally goes to American companies, illegal use of software products impedes US job creation and economic growth. Software is an essential tool of production in every sector. Stealing it gives companies in China and other countries an unfair cost advantage over their American counterparts that pay for software tools as they should."

In addition to clamping down on infringement in the private sector, the 2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement commits the federal government to lead by example, undertaking a review of practices and policies to promote the use of only legal software by federal contractors.

About BSA

The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the world's foremost advocate for the software industry, working in 80 countries to expand software markets and create conditions for innovation and growth. Governments and industry partners look to BSA for thoughtful approaches to key policy and legal issues, recognizing that software plays a critical role in driving economic and social progress in all nations. BSA's member companies invest billions of dollars a year in local economies, good jobs and next-generation solutions that will help people around the world be more productive, connected, and secure. BSA members include Adobe, Altium, Apple, Autodesk, AVEVA, AVG, Bentley Systems, CA Technologies, Cadence, Cisco Systems, CNC/Mastercam, Corel, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Kaspersky Lab, McAfee, Microsoft, Minitab, PTC, Progress Software, Quark, Quest Software, Rosetta Stone, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, Synopsys, and The MathWorks.

SOURCE Business Software Alliance