I want to give a special shout out to Garrett Ballengee and everybody that works at the Cardinal Institute. Earlier this week, Governor Jim Justice (R-W.V.) signed into law House Bill 2013. This created the Hope Scholarship Program. West Virginia now has one of the most robust education savings account (ESA) programs. As stated by the Cardinal Institute, “Families will be able to use the Hope Scholarship to create an education experience tailored to each of their individual children’s needs.” Garrett and the crew worked tirelessly to educate state lawmakers about the benefits of ESAs. What an amazing victory for everybody in West Virginia. Garrett and the crew at Cardinal are doing an outstanding job and it makes me so happy to see real change being accomplished at the state level.
The White House’s Dangerous IP Idea
Last week, CNBC reported that, “The White House is weighing whether to suspend intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments…”. Oh boy, not a good idea. This misguided proposal would set a terrible precedent, diminishing incentives to innovate for decades to come. Strong IP rules have been instrumental in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year after the onslaught of the deadly pandemic. Millions of lives will be saved because of the rapid development and distribution of vaccines that were tested and produced more quickly than anyone could have imagined. Since the start of the pandemic, thousands of companies have worked around the clock to ensure that Americans have access to cutting-edge healthcare products. Chief among these businesses have been pharmaceutical companies producing the groundbreaking research for vaccines to finally eliminate the coronavirus. These enormous investments would simply not be possible without the strong IP protections enshrined in the US Constitution.
Do you think strong IP laws don’t matter? Well, nearly all of the companies involved in vaccine research and production are located in the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (U.K.), two nations known for their robust IP protection. It is no small coincidence that the U.S. and U.K. have taken an outsized role in beating back the pandemic and are ranked as the top two nations globally in terms of the strength of their IP protections. Weakening these pivotal protections would make future innovation considerably more difficult, and heighten the risk of a new, unchecked pandemic down the road. Moderna, who produces one of the vaccines, is voluntarily allowing limited access their IP. A bold move indeed.
The fact is that in order to be prepared for the next pandemic and encourage innovation across the board, the Biden administration must reject the idea of forcing companies to give away their IP protections.
The Economic Damage of Online Piracy
Whether through Netflix, Hulu, or whatever other platform people used, there was a lot of entertainment content being devoured in the last year. In fact, according to a new report by the Motion Picture Association of America, subscriptions to online video services surpassed 1 billion globally for the first time ever. The entertainment industry was able to adjust to the pandemic reality and create a vibrant marketplace amid a global crisis. This growth in market share and success has illustrated the existing challenge of piracy that has plagued the entertainment industry for years. Piracy and IP theft disproportionately impact the entertainment industry because of its IP intensive nature. This piracy costs the industry revenue, deters new entrants to the marketplace, and – perhaps most importantly – costs the nation precious jobs at a time when the country can least afford to lose them. According to data compiled by LegalJobs, the impact of piracy is quite grim for the economy. Online piracy results in the loss of 71,000 jobs in the United States. Further, the online TV and movie industry is set to lose more than $50 billion in revenue next year as a result of this theft. Existing data shows the number is already between $29 billion and $71 billion. This number soars to well over $200 billion if illegal sports streaming is taken into account. This lost revenue also results in lost revenue to the government.
Many Americans are unaware of the widespread economic impacts of online piracy. Nearly 70 percent of online users surveyed said that they “found nothing wrong” with digital piracy and more than one-third of Generation Z internet users report having illegally downloaded music. There is a perception that this activity only puts a small dent in the pocketbooks of some of the most affluent among us. Yet, all the while, our country is deprived of tens of billions of dollars in gross domestic product and tens of thousands of jobs.
At a time where streaming services figure prominently in our lives and jobs are few and far between, it would be prudent for Congress to address an issue that impacts both of these realities. It is long past time for our law – and our lawmakers – to enter the technological age and adapt quickly before we lose more jobs and revenue in the interim.
BLOGS:
Monday: Watchdog Slams White House Vaccine Plan
Tuesday: Op-Ed: Charm City Children Deserve Better Schools
Thursday: Roads, Bridges, and Drug Pricing—A Dangerous Trojan Horse
Photo of Mark Schlefer by The Washington Post
MEDIA:
March 26, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their story, “Council President Mosby's magazine copyright raises questions as price tag remains unknown.”
March 27, 2021: Maryland Matters ran TPA’s op-ed, “Charm City Children Deserve Better Schools.”
March 29, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about Nick Mosby’s online magazine.
March 29, 2021: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “FDA needs regulatory review and revamp.”
March 29, 2021: Issues & Insights ran TPA’s op-ed, “Online Piracy Threatens to Derail Recovery.”
March 29, 2021: Patch.com ran TPA’s op-ed, “Charm City Children Deserve Better Schools.
March 30, 2021: I appeared on KLZ 560 AM (Denver, Col.) to talk about filibuster reform.
March 30, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their story, “Baltimore City Police internal audit.”
March 31, 2021: Townhall.com ran TPA’s op-ed, “Budget Reconciliation’s Dark Side.”
March 31, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their story, “'It’s easy to spend money,' but watchdog says oversight of COVID relief money is difficult.”
April 1, 2021: I appeared on WBOB 600 AM (Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about the infrastructure bill.
April 1, 2021: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about Maryland’s COVID relief spending.
April 1, 2021: Issues & Insights ran TPA’s op-ed, “Vaping Prohibitionists Threaten Harm Reduction Efforts.”
Have a safe and joyful Easter weekend!
Best,
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
1401 K Street, NW
Suite 502
Washington, D.C. xxxxxx
www.protectingtaxpayers.org
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