Attorney General John Ashcroft said the U.S. Justice Department is about to launch the most aggressive crackdown on intellectual property theft online and off.
Ashcroft spoke October 6 to a New York conference of prosecutors specializing in computer crime, saying his department's attack against intellectual property theft "must be as forceful and aggressive and successful as our response to terrorism and violent crime and drugs and corruption has been."
The Attorney General said a Justice report following creation of an intellectual property task force would be released next week.
Ashcroft said intellectual property theft costs the U.S. an estimated $250 billion a year and affects all manner of industry from automotive to pharmaceutical. Without revealing details, Ashcroft said only that the new crackdown would use new investigative resources and prosecutorial tools.
Ashcroft said the crackdown would be announced officially “next week.”
