WASHINGTON, September 22, 2010 — The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) strongly supports Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and senior Republican committee member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) for introducing the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.

“Internet piracy is a threat on a global scale, and it is encouraging to see U.S. lawmakers taking the right steps to address it. I only hope that we will continue to see such efforts, to target those profiting from this kind of activity, and to make the Internet a safer place for consumers and businesses alike,” said Josh Bourne, president of CADNA. “This would mark a major victory for U.S. intellectual property owners and U.S. consumers.”

The bill would give the Department of Justice (DOJ) the power to crack down on websites dedicated to making unauthorized downloads, copyrighted content and counterfeit goods available. According to Sen. Leahy, in a press release issued by his office, “each year, online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods cost American businesses billions of dollars, and result in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs.”

“Senators Leahy and Hatch are providing the Department of Justice with a valuable tool to fight online piracy,” said Bourne. “While this is an excellent first step, CADNA would like to see legislation that would complement the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act by creating a stronger deterrent against cybersquatting. Such legislation would help prevent these types of sites from being created in the first place.”

If passed, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act will allow the DOJ to file for civil action and serve a website’s registrar with a court order to shut down the site if the site owner is inside the U.S. If the site owner resides abroad, the DOJ could seek a court order that would let it block the site from being accessed by residents, from processing credit card transactions, and from receiving ad revenue from the U.S. Safeguards against abuse are also built into the bill, which would allow the accused to petition for the order to be lifted.

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the systemic domain name abuses that plague the Internet today. For more information, please visit www.cadna.org.