Justice Dept. Launches Campaign Against Counterfeit Goods
Counterfeit products and stolen intellectual property are estimated to deprive U.S. workers of some 750,000 jobs every year, and more than $250 billion in lost revenue for the U.S. economy. As the holiday shopping season gets under way, the U.S. Department of Justice is sounding the alarm to consumers, with a new ad campaign urging shoppers to “Get Real.”
Launching the campaign at a White House event the day after Cyber Monday—the big post-Thanksgiving online shopping day—Attorney General Eric Holder announced the seizure of 150 domain names for sites found to be trafficking in counterfeit or pirated products. Holder was joined by White House Intellectual Property Enforcement coordinator Victoria Espinel, and Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca M. Blank, who announced her agency’s forthcoming report on the economic impact of intellectual property theft. Denise O’Donnell, director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, emceed the event.
According to a fact sheet on the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) website: Read the rest of this entry »
Corporations Pushing Bill to Take Away Overtime from Computer and Web Workers
Apparently unsatisfied by the enormous profits they’ve made while average Americans suffer in a difficult economy, corporations are pushing Congress to enact a new law that would exempt a large class of workers from receiving overtime pay. And they’re receiving support from members of both parties on Capitol Hill.
Dubbed the Computer Professionals Update Act (CPU Act), Senate bill 1747 would change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to remove overtime protection and compensation from “almost everyone working primarily in information technology” who earns either a salary, or an hourly rate of $27.63, according to Paul E. Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE).
Information technology companies are focused on cutting pay for the people who work for them. If their effort succeeds, however, it will suggest to every other industry that the time is now to gut FLSA for every covered private-sector worker.
Introduced in the U.S. Senate last month by Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), the CPU Act has found a Democratic co-sponsor in Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), who is joined by two Republican co-sponsors, Sens. Mike Enzi (Wy.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.).
Bill Targets ‘Rogue Websites’ that Kill Jobs, Steal Wages
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The Internet is a major source for intellectual property theft and a major marketplace for counterfeit goods. But new legislation would crack down on “rogue websites” that offer anything from pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters and popular music to counterfeit brand-name prescription drugs and airplane parts.
The bipartisan PROTECT IP Act [Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act] would allow authorities to move more quickly to shut down the sites, impose tougher penalties and sanctions and create stronger intellectual property rights. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
The economic well-being of workers in the United States—jobs, income, and benefits—turns more and more on our protecting the creativity and innovation that yield world-class entertainment, cutting-edge and sustainable manufacturing and construction, and disease-ending pharmaceuticals. In a tough economic time, the PROTECT IP Act will help to protect U.S. workers and consumers against digital thieves and counterfeit scammers. Read the rest of this entry »
Unions Back New Plan to Battle Intellectual Property Pirates
Intellectual property theft—anything from pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters and popular music to counterfeit brand-name airplane parts—steals American jobs and hurts the economy. This week, the Obama administration outlined a new strategy to stem the global flood of pirated property.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union leaders applauded the new battle plan. Says Trumka:
Intellectual property fuels some of the most vibrant sectors of the U.S. economy. When digital thieves steal entertainment, or counterfeiters make cheap copies of quality products, they rob American workers of jobs and income.
AFTRA, AFM Call for ‘Fair Play for Air Play’
You can take a stand for the folks in the band today and tomorrow. Let your congressional representatives know that it’s time that radio stops stiffing musicians and recording artists and pays the piper…and the singers, guitar players, drummers, keyboardists….
When a song is played on what is known as “terrestrial radio”—the radio you receive over the air—the men and women who play and sing do not receive a single penny in royalties for the music they created. But if that same tune is played on satellite radio, streamed on the Internet or piped in through cable TV music channels, the band gets paid.
