One of the great misconceptions about intellectual property theft is that it is little more than a nuisance crime. By this faulty reasoning, there’s no real harm in using commercial products without paying for them, and it’s no big deal if someone sets up shop to sell cheap knockoffs of the real thing.
But the White House has put the lie to such misconstrued notions by unveiling an important new series of legislative proposals that would increase criminal penalties for IP offenses that, among other things, threaten public health and safety, affect national security, or are committed by organized criminal enterprises or gangs. (more…)