Intellectual Property: A Homeland Security Issue?

[LiberalMedia]

The question: Should intellectual property (IP) be an issue handled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security? Are IP-related crimes serious enough to warrant status as being a matter of national security?

In answering this question, here are three items for you to consider, in addition to whatever research you will do personally and any sources you will cite:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intellectual_Property_Rights_Coordination_Center

The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (NIPRCC) is a U.S. government center overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The NIPRCC coordinates the U.S. government’s enforcement of intellectual property laws.

The center addresses intellectual property crimes ranging from counterfeit pharmaceuticals,[7] to pirated films, television, and music, to counterfeit machinery and other merchandise procured by the federal government,[8] to counterfeit federal uniforms, badges, and other insignia, to consumer goods, to postal fraud.

The NIPRCC also works with the Office of the United States Trade Representative to identify trade barriers to U.S. companies and products due to the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries. This is reported annually in a Special 301 Report, named after Section 301, as amended of the Trade Act of 1974, that mandates it.

On IP, Thomas Jefferson said:

If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution states:

[Congress shall have Power] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

Discuss.

 

[Zmrzlina]

Downloading the latest episode of Game of Thrones is not a national security issue.

 

[sameech]

Downloading the latest episode of Game of Thrones is not a national security issue.

If your illegal download contains malware that allows the Russian mob or terrorists or whomever to steal your identity and fund their illegal activities, or to assist in launching a cyber attack it may very well be.

 

[Zmrzlina]

Downloading the latest episode of Game of Thrones is not a national security issue.

If your illegal download contains malware that allows the Russian mob or terrorists or whomever to steal your identity and fund their illegal activities, or to assist in launching a cyber attack it may very well be.

This very website has malware, what's your point?

 

[sameech]

Downloading the latest episode of Game of Thrones is not a national security issue.

If your illegal download contains malware that allows the Russian mob or terrorists or whomever to steal your identity and fund their illegal activities, or to assist in launching a cyber attack it may very well be.

This very website has malware, what's your point?

That it is a national security issue