14 DAY TRIAL // The UK’s Intellectual Property Minister has announced its intention to launch a new unit dedicated to tackling online piracy and other types of intellectual property crimes.
The new unit will be established and run by the City of London Police. According to the Intellectual Property Office, – which will provide £2.5 million ($3.8 million / €2.9 million) in funding over a period of two years – the unit will be launched in September this year.
“Intellectual property crime has long been a problem in the world of physical goods, but with the growing use of the internet, online intellectual property crime is now an increasing threat to our creative industries. These industries are worth more than £36 billion [$54 billion / €42 billion] a year and employ more than 1.5 million people,” commented the Minister for Intellectual Property, Lord Younger.
“Government and our law enforcement agencies must do all they can to protect our creative industries and the integrity of consumer goods. By working with the City of London Police, who have recognised expertise in tackling economic crime, we are showing how committed this Government is to supporting business and delivering economic growth.”
Recent studies have shown that a total of 7 million individuals from the UK visit sites that offer illegal content each month.
Authorities are concerned that copyright infringement causes massive monetary losses to the industry. In addition, it’s believed that, if piracy is not tackled, 250,000 jobs are at risk in the UK.
The Commissioner of the City of London Police, Adrian Leppard, noted, “Intellectual property crime is costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year, with organised crime gangs causing significant damage to industries that produce legitimate, high quality, physical goods and online and digital content in an increasingly competitive climate.”
“The establishment of a new online intellectual property crime unit is evidence of the Government and City of London Police's commitment to confront this threat,” he added.