ENFORCEMENT
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Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement<br />
SECTION 1<br />
most vulnerable individuals in society that find their<br />
way to these positions on the ‘sweatshop’ floor, where<br />
they are not granted the same form of protection<br />
available to the legitimate employment market. 121 With<br />
a workforce comprised of individuals with little to no<br />
means—including migrants who have been smuggled<br />
into a country or immigrant workers who have had their<br />
identity papers confiscated—these are often ‘deadend’<br />
positions from which it is difficult to free oneself.<br />
“I remember walking into an assembly plant in<br />
Thailand a couple of years ago and seeing six<br />
or seven little children, all under 10 years old,<br />
sitting on the floor assembling counterfeit leather<br />
handbags. The owners had broken the children's<br />
legs and tied the lower leg to the thigh so the<br />
bones wouldn't mend. [They] did it because the<br />
children said they wanted to go outside and play.”<br />
Source: Dana Thomas, Harper's Bazaar, "The Fight Against Fakes,"<br />
exerpt from "Delux: How Luxury Lost its Luster."<br />
Labor and human rights violations extend beyond the<br />
point of manufacture to the time of sale, where individuals<br />
are exploited by human traffickers and illicit traders. For<br />
example, illegal immigrants—often from Africa or Asia—<br />
are reported to have been smuggled into countries and<br />
coerced by their facilitators to engage in street sales of<br />
counterfeits. 122 Although street sales operations may not<br />
appear to be under forced circumstances, reports confirm<br />
that many of these street sales and unlicensed markets<br />
are often controlled by organized crime groups and other<br />
illicit actors. 123<br />
These types of exploitative acts and violations are not<br />
confined to foreign countries, as reports demonstrate<br />
that individuals in the United States have engaged in<br />
human trafficking and forced labor in connection with<br />
the distribution and sale of counterfeit and pirated<br />
goods. 124 As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District<br />
of Texas noted in connection with one criminal case that<br />
was prosecuted to conviction: “Driven by greed, these<br />
defendants mistreated and abused the victims of human<br />
trafficking after enticing them to come…with promises of<br />
employment and a better life. Forced to sell counterfeit<br />
goods to repay their smuggling fees and earn their<br />
freedom, bootleg CDs and DVDs became the shackles of<br />
the victims of this modern day slavery.” 125<br />
5. Poses Threats to Domestic and International<br />
Security.<br />
In addition to the various risks and consequences flowing<br />
from the unlawful exploitation of intellectual property<br />
rights discussed above, these same illicit activities<br />
may also give rise to far-reaching and serious threats<br />
to domestic and international security. Although these<br />
threats may be closely linked to, and converge with, one<br />
or more of the threats summarized above, the risks to<br />
national security interests must be better understood.<br />
The U.S. is a key player in the global financial and<br />
trade networks and a leader in producing valuable<br />
intellectual property. Therefore, it continues to remain a<br />
prime target for counterfeiting and piracy networks. As<br />
a target, the United States is both seen as a main source<br />
of critical technology, life-saving medicines, and other<br />
innovative and creative works to be stolen or otherwise<br />
misappropriated, as well as an attractive receiver or<br />
destination of incoming illicit goods due to market size.<br />
Put simply, the dual nature of the threat—incoming illicit<br />
goods and outgoing misappropriated IP—gives rise to<br />
unique national security concerns.<br />
“Illicit networks seek to navigate, infiltrate, and/<br />
or dominate global supply chains to further<br />
their activities and enhance their power. They<br />
actually thrive in open societies with the free<br />
flow of goods, people, and capital. Just like licit<br />
businesses, illicit networks are matching the supply<br />
and demand for goods, services, capital, and<br />
information for their clients. Illicit actors utilize<br />
and…seek to control or co-opt supply chains<br />
around the world[.]”<br />
This section highlights two particularly acute threats<br />
in which illicit IPR activities may also impact security<br />
concerns: namely, when illicit goods infiltrate critical<br />
supply chains (such as military and civilian computer<br />
network systems) and when intellectual propertybased<br />
crimes are used to finance and support criminal<br />
syndicates around the world.<br />
Source: Convergence: Illicit Networks and National<br />
Security in the Age of Globalization (2013).<br />
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