Arlington, Va., December 15, 2009 –
Executives of content-producing companies and government officials,
including Vice President Joseph Biden, met today in Washington, D.C.,
to discuss ongoing efforts to combat commercial content piracy. The
following statements can be attributed to Gary Shapiro, President and
CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
®
and Ed Black, President and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA):
“We applaud the Administration’s focus on piracy and its convening of a
meeting of some of the stakeholders. We urge the White House to focus
its efforts on the scourge of commercial piracy. This includes
counterfeiting, massive unauthorized disc replication, fraudulent
appropriation of intellectual property and infringement of trademarks
and patents,” said Shapiro.
He continued, “We urge that other stakeholders be consulted and brought
to the White House to continue this important dialogue and to ensure
that American consumers are not treated like criminals. Too often the
RIAA and other groups advocate an overly aggressive vision of
intellectual property that discourages innovation and limits lawful
consumer conduct. The resulting environment of excess litigation and
disproportionately high statutory damages and other penalties
discourages entrepreneurism and burdens America’s innovation future.”
Black stated, “The record Hollywood box office take in 2009 shows that
the content community can thrive in the digital world without harming
innovation. Our nation must encourage both innovation and balanced
intellectual property protection if we wish to maintain our global
technology leadership.”
About CEA:
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade
association promoting growth in the $172 billion U.S. consumer
electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of
CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research,
technical training and education, industry promotion, standards
development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships.
CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where
Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES
are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at
www.CE.org
.
About CCIA:
CCIA is an international, nonprofit association of computer and
communications industry firms, representing a broad cross section of
the industry. CCIA is dedicated to preserving full, fair and open
competition throughout our industry. Our members employ more than
600,000 workers and generate annual revenues in excess of $200 billion.
