ENFORCEMENT

Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
SECTION 2
Without action, the number of infringers may
continue to grow and may begin to crowd out
legitimate creators. Looking ahead, industry and
policymakers must ensure that mobile app platforms
function as gateways to innovative and lawful new
ways for users to engage with content. Needed
improvements to the mobile app ecosystem could be
achieved in a variety of ways, including coordinated,
voluntary best practice initiatives, created through a
multistakeholder process.
ACTION NO. 2.15: Encourage research and
development of industry standards and best
practices created through a multistakeholder
process involving a diverse set of interested
parties to curb IP-infringing apps and abuses
on app platforms while protecting the rights of
users to use apps for non-infringing and other
protected activities. Content owners and app
developments, together with app stores and
other relevant stakeholders, are encouraged to
create or enhance existing tools that identify
IP-infringing apps before they become available
for purchase. IPEC and other relevant members
of the U.S. Interagency Strategic Planning
Committees on IP Enforcement will explore
opportunities to support the development of
balanced and measured best practices for app
and app distribution platforms.
5. Putting the Consumer First: Combatting
Operators of Notorious Websites by Way of
Consumer Education.
The digital economy is a significant driver of U.S.
economic growth, 74 but it cannot fully succeed if
consumers do not trust their security and privacy
online. The public and private sectors jointly share a
responsibility to promote a safe and secure Internet
that minimizes opportunities for deception and
fraud and reduces the vulnerability of web users.
Cooperation between the public and private sectors
can bolster the security and integrity of the Internet
environment while ensuring the free flow of information
vital to the structure of the digital economy.
By way of example, Internet and tech companies
came together in the early-2000s to support an
initiative to protect consumers from malware—
computer viruses, spyware, and the programs
that steal data, send spam, or otherwise infect a
user’s computer—in a manner that consumers can
understand, and learn from in the process. 75 This
and other initiatives have resulted in something to
which web users are now all well accustomed, i.e.,
educational banner pop-ups informing a user that
the target site is suspected of propagating malware
(FIG. 42, alternate page).
In this spirit, a leading search provider partnered
with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in
late 2015 to help give users more information about
the dangers of visiting unsafe online pharmacies so
they can make informed decisions. 76 The educational
pop-up shown in Figure No. 43 appears when a
participating search user clicks on a pharmaceutical
site that has been cited by the FDA as a fake online
pharmacy engaged in illegal activity, such as the sale
of counterfeit drugs to U.S. consumers.
FIG. 43: “Fake Online Pharmacy” Educational Pop-Up.
This educational pop-up does not prevent users
from visiting the site, but rather cautions them about
the possible risks of proceeding to the site, and in turn
provides links to resources where they can learn more
about selecting a safe online pharmacy. If the owner
of an affected site believes that the pop-up notice is
in error, there is a process in place for that company to
address the issue.
These and other evolving online practices are
educating the public and providing enhanced trust
and security in areas that pose significant risk of harm
to the public. There is an opportunity to develop new,
and to refine existing, targeted educational campaigns
for purposes of consumer protection. As exemplified in
the FDA-Search example, public-private partnerships
aimed at reducing the consumer knowledge gap
through the development of appropriate education
initiatives enable consumers to make better informed
and safer online transactions.
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