Senator Jon Kyl mailer@kyl.senate.gov 15:35 (39 minutes ago) to me Dear Mr.

Myname

Thank you for contacting me about the legislation before Congress intended to co mbat foreign Internet trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods.

As you know, there has been intense debate over this legislation. Ma ny are worried about the government intruding on the freedom of the Internet, an d I understand and appreciate that concern. I am a natural skeptic of government intervention, believing that it should only intervene when there is a demonstra ted, compelling reason to do so. In this case, I believe defending American prop erty especially intellectual property against the threat of foreign online theft mo e than meets this threshold and merits congressional action. I appreciate the op portunity to explain why.

There is a reason why the United States has led the world in technology, medici ne, software, electronics, and so many other innovation-heavy industries for so long; we have one of the freest economies in the world, we have some of the smar test, most hard-working people, and we have always strongly protected intellectu al property rights. This imperative was recognized by our Founding Fathers, whic h is why Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution tells Congress to "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited Times to Authors an d Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."

American laws are violated every time a copyrighted movie, song, book, or other material is stolen, reproduced, and sold or distributed to buyers without permis sion. Thus, I believe legislation should be enacted to prevent foreign websites whose primary business is trafficking in infringed goods from doing business wit h Americans. These websites not only harm the American companies that own the tr ademarks and copyrights that are infringed; they also harm the American purchase rs of counterfeit goods (which are usually of markedly inferior quality, and are sometimes dangerous to the consumer).

It's clear that we can no longer ignore this growing problem. To do so would rew ard foreign pirates at the expense of American innovators, and it would risk ced ing our pre-eminent position in the world economy to places like China and Russi a. Laws have already been in place for many years to fight domestic intellectual piracy; it only makes sense, then, to extend that same protection to the fight against foreign online counterfeiters.

To be sure, some of the bills that have been introduced to address t his issue (such as S. 968 and H.R. 3261) are not perfect. I have some conc

erns myself. For instance, companies doing business on the Internet might incur new costs to comply with some of the requirements. But that does not mean we sim ply should abandon our efforts to combat foreign Internet piracy. While Senator Reid has pulled S. 968 from Senate consideration for now, I am working with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and senators from both parties to negotiate a compromise bill that can appropriately balance the need to address this issue with the importance of keeping the Internet as free and open as possible (and, in many ways, combating foreign piracy helps to do just that). I am hopeful that we can be successful.

I appreciate your taking the time to write on this important issue.