Andre Yoskowitz
29 Mar 2008 16:45
During a speech to Silicon Valley executives at the Tech Museum of Innovation, Attorney General Michael Mukasey warned that the "enormous" profits made from counterfeiting and piracy is flowing into the hands of terrorists and terrorist organizations.
Mukasey added that the "economy and national security of the United States are increasingly threatened by violations involving copyrighted software code, patented inventions and trademarked properties."
Terrorists are starting to perform more like organized crime and are increasingly using piracy and counterfeiting money to fund their operations, Mukasey says.
The Attorney General also noted that his department was now giving more resources to prosecuting intellectual property crimes, which has led to a 40 percent increase in IP cases since 2005.
"Criminal syndicates, and in some cases even terrorist groups, view IP crime as a lucrative business and see it as a low-risk way to fund other activities," Mukasey said. "A primary goal of our IP enforcement mission is to show these criminals that they're wrong."