"...Our leadership in the development of creative and innovative products and services also makes us a global target for theft... (intellectual property) thieves impose substantial costs. They depress investment in technologies needed to meet global challenges. They put consumers, families and communities at risk. They unfairly devalue America's contribution, hinder our ability to grow our economy, compromise good, high-wage jobs for Americans and endanger strong and prosperous communities."
-- From the 2010 Joint Strategic Plan On Intellectual Property Enforcement, published earlier this year by the newly established Office Of The U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), which is part of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
This grim assessment and the publication in which it appears is very much in line with President Obama's campaign promise to crack down on intellectual property theft. The unfortunate reality is that the President is responding to a crisis that has worsened despite the enactment over several decades of numerous federal and state laws aimed at deterring the theft of intellectual property.
Prominent among these laws is the Uniform Trade Secrets Acts (UTSA). Enacted in 1970, UTSA makes it illegal to use protected information gathered from others, or that is deliberately stolen or obtained through blackmail. Under UTSA such theft is punishable by civil law, but it is also criminal behavior as defined by the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.
Sadly, these (and other) well-intentioned pieces of legislation have not stanched the bleeding of the U.S.'s estimable trove of intellectual wealth. If anything, we are hemorrhaging trade secrets, patents, trademarks, confidential consumer data and classified government files (consider "WikiLeaks").
