WASHINGTON, D.C. – Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) President Rhett Dawson issued the following statement responding to the Supreme Court’s decision today in MGM vs. Grokster:

 

“This decision strikes a balance between encouraging innovation and discouraging piracy.  When it comes to creating products with multiple uses, this decision draws an important line between merely knowing of a product’s infringing potential on the one hand, and actively encouraging infringement on the other.”

 

“Piracy is a big problem for our industry -- just as it is for the film and music industries -- so we support anything that gives law enforcement greater anti-piracy tools, as this case appears to do.  At the same time, we shouldn’t put an undue burden on engineers and inventors to constantly worry when they’re innovating about every possible way their invention could be used illegally.”

 

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is an elite group of the nation's top high-tech companies and is widely recognized as the tech industry's most effective lobbying organization in Washington.  ITI helps member companies achieve their policy objectives through building relationships with Members of Congress, Administration officials, and foreign governments; organizing industry-wide consensus on policy issues; and working to enact tech-friendly government policies.

 

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