Feds Pump Up Intellectual Property Protection Efforts

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Justice has fulfilled or exceeded all recommendations made by an intellectual property task force in October 2004, including new computer crime investigations units in 12 cities, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced Tuesday.

Since the Justice Department's task force made 31 recommendations for protecting intellectual property, the department has launched Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property units in seven more cities than the task force recommended. The department now has 25 CHIP units across the United States. Among the newest 12 are units in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, and Philadelphia.

Efforts Abroad

Gonzales called intellectual property the "lifeblood" of the U.S. economy during a speech in Washington, D.C. "We've done a lot," he said. "We have to do a lot more."

The Justice Department, which released a progress report on the initiative today, has also stationed an experienced prosecutor to work on intellectual property enforcement in Southeast Asia, and will add a prosecutor in Eastern Europe. Those prosecutors will help train foreign prosecutors, investigators, and judges about intellectual property investigations, the department said.

Goals Accomplished

The report, which will be available at the department's cybercrime page, also notes several other Justice Department efforts during the past two years. Among the task force recommendations the department has met:

• Increasing the number of defendants prosecuted for intellectual property offenses by 98 percent between the government's fiscal 2004 and 2005 years
• Publishing a nearly 400-page comprehensive resource manual for federal prosecutors on prosecuting intellectual property crimes
• Partnering with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to dedicate $900,000 over three years to piracy prevention efforts with nonprofit educational institutions

The Business Software Alliance, a trade group representing large software vendors, praised the Justice Department report, saying the agency has made "significant progress" in protecting intellectual property.