On Monday, April 4, 2011, representatives from the DGA, IATSE, SAG and AFTRA joined leading members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees at a press conference on Capitol Hill to call attention to the negative effects of Internet theft and counterfeiting on American jobs
and businesses.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was joined at the podium by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA). Representatives from labor and business filled the room in support of the legislators’ message that Internet theft and counterfeiting are damaging the American economy and resulting in the loss of billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.
AD/UPM Council East member Alison Rosa and DGA Assistant Executive Director Jean Frost attended the press conference on behalf of the Guild. Paul E. Almeida, President of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO offered brief remarks on behalf of labor, and the DGA, IATSE, SAG and AFTRA issued a joint press statement condemning the profiteers who traffic in stolen content and thanking the legislators for their longstanding belief in the value of creative content, their commitment to protecting American jobs and their support of real and effective enforcement measures to fight Internet theft.
Since this Congress began, the leadership of both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees have expressed their strong concern with Internet theft and its increasingly harmful impact on a multitude of U.S. industries. They have made clear their commitment to introduce legislation over the upcoming months. The DGA is actively working with both Committees to encourage more aggressive government actions to fight Internet theft.
